George  Davidson 
1825-1911 


r^  S^ 

/       £t 

SLIPS 


TONGUE  AND  PEN 


BY 
J.  H.  LONG,  M.A.,  LLB. 


NEW  YORK 

D.  APPLETON  AND  COMPANY 
1888 


Authorized  Edition. 


lists:-  ran, 


CONTENTS: 

PAGE. 
COMMON  ERRORS    i 

GRAMMATICAL  POINTS  32 

GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS  UPON  COMPOSITION     47 

WORDS  OFTEN  CONFUSED,  SYNONYMS,  OITOSITES   ..  55 

PREFER 80 

OBJECTIONABLE  WORDS  AND  PHRASES 84 

NOTES  ON  PUNCTUATION 88 

INDEX 93 


COMMON  'ERRORS 


Do  not  say,  "The  truth  of  that  is  apparent?  [Use  obvious 
or  evident.  Apparent  or  seeming 'is  opposed  to  real ; 
obvious  or  evident,  to  obscure] 

Do  not  use  anticipate  for  expect.  [Anticipate  means  to 
reach  before,  to  take  before,  to  forestall,  as:  "I 
anticipated  all  his  wishes/'] 

Do  not  say,  all  of  them,  both  of  them,  for  they  [or  theni\ 
all,  both,  respectively. 

Do  not  spell  with  z  analyse,  paralyse,  and  other  words 
derived  from  the  Greek  luo,  lusis. 

Do  not  use  ale,  tea,  sugar,  &c.,  in  the  plural.  [Instead  of 
saying,  "  I  have  excellent  teas,  ales  and  sugars,"  say, 
"  I  have  excellent  tea,  ale  and  sugar,  of  various 
qualities  [or,  at  various  prices,  &c.]" 

Do  not  use  accord  for  grant  or  give.  [Accord,  intransitive, 
means  to  agree  or  harmonize ;  transitive,  it  means 
to  give  or  grant ;  but  it  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
great  condescension,  e.g. :  "Pallas  accords  their 
vow."  In  ordinary  prose  it  should  be  employed 
but  rarely.] 

Do  not  use  accident  for  wound  or  hurt.  [Accident  means 
misfortune  or  calamity,  e.g. :  "  In  the  railway  acci- 
dent the  man  was  badly  injured."] 


2  COMMON 

Do  not  use  aggravate  for  irritate  or  vex.  [Aggravate 
means  to  render  heavy  or  more  difficult,  e.g. :  "  The 
guilt  was  aggravated  by  the  circumstances  of  the 
crime."] 

Do  not  use  alternation  for  series  or  succession.  [Alterna- 
tion is  reciprocal  succession,  e.g.:  "The  alternation 
of  red  and  white  balls  on  the  string  produced  a 
very  pretty  effect"] 

Do  not  use  alternative  [in  the  plural]  as  equivalent  to 
things  to  be  chosen  from  or  among.  [Alternative  is 
the  choice  itself,  and  should,  properly  speaking,  be 
restricted  to  a  choice  between  two  things,  e.g.\  "  My 
alternative  was  escape  or  death."] 

Do  not  use  antiquarian  [as  a  noun]  for  antiquary.  [An- 
tiquarian  is  an  adjective.] 

Do  not  use  abortive  of  acts.  [It  may  be  used  of  plans 
or  attempts  ;  but  it  is,  at  the  best,  an  inelegant  word.] 

Do  not  say,  "  The  measures  adopted  by  Congress  for  the 
quelling  of  the  rebellion  &c."  Say,  "  The  measures 
decided  upon  or  taken  &c."  [Adapted  is  correctly 
employed  in  such  a  sentence  as,  "  The  report  upon 
ways  and  means  was  adopted."] 

Do  not  say,  "  His  antecedents  are  bad."  Say,  "  His  past 
history  [or,  his  reputation]  is  bad/' 

Do  not  use  appreciate  for  value  highly.  {Appreciate  is  to 
value  correctly  or  justly.]  Say,  therefore,  "  I  prize 
[or  value]  that  horse  highly;"  not,  "I  appreciate 


COMMON   ERRORS.  3 

Do  not  say,  at  auction  but  by  auction* 

Do  not  say,  "  The  wind  was  accompanied  [or  attended] 
by  rain  Sac"  Use  with  of  things  [unless  personi- 
fied] ;  by^  of  persons. 

Do  not  use  anniversary  of  celebrations  that  are  .not 
yearly.  Thus,  not,  a  centennial  anniversary ;  but, 
a  centennial  celebration,  festival^  &c. 

Do  not  use  affable  as  an  exact  synonym  for  kindly  or 
good-natured,  [Affable  is  properly  applied  to  the 
bearing  of  superiors  towards  inferiors,  not  to  the 
bearing  of  equals  towards  equals.] 

Do  not  say,  "Both  are  alike;"  say,  "They  [or  they  two] 
are  alike.  Both  denotes  union  ;  alike^  separation. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  am  afraid  it  will  rain."  Say,  "  I  fear  it 
will  rain." 

Do  not  say,  "  That  ad;;iits  of  no  doubt."  [Leave  out 
the  of,} 

Do  not  say,  "  He  alludes  [or  refers]  to  Mr.  Smith,"  when 
you  mean  that  he  merely  names  Mr.  Smith.  Say, 
"  He  means  Mr.  Smith."  [The  real  meaning  of 
allude  or  refer  to  is  to  touch  lightly  upon,  to  call 
attention  to,  delicately  or  indirectly.] 

Do  not  say, "  He  went  around  the  world."  It  should  be, 
"He  went  round  &c."  [Around  denotes  rest — 
"  The  shelves  are  around  the  room ;"  round  denotes 
motion.] 


4  COMMON    EllllOilS. 

Do  not  say,  "He  remained  there  no  longer  than  could  be 
avoided''  [Logically,  it  ought  to  be,  than  could  not 
be  avoided ;  but,  as  this  is  a  very  inelegant  expres- 
sion, use  some  other  form,  e.g. :  "He  remained  there 
no  longer  than  was  unavoidable,"  or,  "  than  was 
necessary."] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  went  all  over  the  town,"  for  "  I  went  over 
all  the  town." 

Do  not  use  above  as  an  attributive  adjective.  Say,  "the 
foregoing  [or  preceding}  paragraph,"  not  "  the  above 
paragraph." 

Do  not  say,  "  He  is  as  rich,  or  richer,  than  my  brother." 
[It  should  be,  "  He  is  as  rich  as,  or  &c."  If  preferred, 
the  form  of  the  sentence  may  be  changed,  "He  is  as 
rich  as  my  brother,  or  richer."] 

Do  not  say,  "John  and  James  both  are  here."  It  should 
be,  "feth  John  and  James  are  here." 

Do  not  use  balance  for  remainder.  \Balance  is  the  excess 
of  one  thing  over  another,  z.  £.,  what  will  make  them 
balance.] 

Do  not  spell  benefited  with  two  fs. 

Do  not  use  to  beat  for  to  defeat.  E.g. :  "The  army  was 
beaten,"  is  incorrect  [Beat  means  to  strike  or  hit.] 

Do  not  say,  at  best,  at  most,  at  least  [the  last  two  in 
reference  to  quantity.]  Use  the  article — at  the 
best  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "He  is  bound  to  go,"  for,  "He  intends  to  go," 
or,  "He  is  determined  to  go." 


COMMON    ERROH3.  0 

Do  not  spell  bye  in  by-the-bye  without  the  e.  [Bye  is  an 
old  word  meaning  place.  So  by-the-bye  is  by  the 
place,  /.  £.,  passing  by  the  place,  or  digressing  from 
the  main  subject  Still,  it  is  customary  to  write 
by-law,  although  bye-law  is  sometimes  seen.  In 
good-bye  bye  is,  of  course,  a  contraction  for  be  with 
ye,  i.e., "God  be  with  ye."] 

Do  not  use  banister  for  baluster  or  balustrade. 

Do  not  say,  "He  was  killed  by  a  bullet."  Use  with. 
\By  denotes  conscious  agency ;  with,  unconscious 
instrumentality.  By  expresses  indirect ;  with,  direct 
agency.]  So,  a  man  is  killed  with  an  axe,  by  a  man, 
When  the  unconscious  instrument  is  personified,  by 
may  be  used,  e.g.)  "  The  man  was  struck  by  light- 
ning." 

Do  not  say,  "He  has  a  bad  cold,  a  bad  wound,  &c."  Use 
some  other  adjective— severe,  dangerous,  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  wish  very  badly  to  do  so."  Use  very 
much,  greatly,  or  some  other  adverbial  expression. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  beg  to  say  &c.,"  for  "  I  beg  leave  to  say 
&c." 

Do  not  use  between  of  more  than  two  objects.  Use  among. 
"I  live  between  Mr.  Smith  and  Mr.  Brown."  "I  live 
among  friends."  [Between  is  often  incorrectly  em- 
ployed in  such  expressions  as,  "  The  distance  be- 
tween each  post  was  twenty  feet."  There  can  be 
no  distance  between  one  thing.  A  different  turn 
must  be  given  to  such  a  sentence  ;  e.g. :  "The  dis- 
tance from  each  post  to  the  next  one  was  &c. ;"  or, 

Wo^  fcftt 


6  COMMON   ERRORS. 

"  The  distance  between  any  two  consecutive  posts 
was  &c."] 

Do  not  speak  of  collecting  a  bill.  The  items  or  the 
various  moneys  or  amounts  constituting  a  bill  may 
be  collected.  [It  is  impossible  to  collect  one  thing- 
only.] 

Do  not  use  an  infinitive  as  the  object  of  commence  or 
essay.  [There  is  no  necessity  for  using  commence 
at  all.  Begin  is  a  much  better  word.] 

Do  not  use  condone  for  atone  for  ex  palliate.  [Condone  is 
simply  to  forgive,  as  applied  to  things.] 

Do  not  use  climax  for  acme  or  highest  point.  \Climax  is  a 
ladder  or  gradual  ascent,  not  the  top  of  the  ladder.] 

Do  not  use  constantly  for  often  or  continually.  [Con- 
stantly means  firmly  or  steadfastly ;  as,  "  He  kept 
his  eyes  fixed  constantly  on  the  goal."] 

Do  not  use  celebrity  for  celebrated  person.  [Celebrity 
means  renown;  e.g. :  "A  man  of  celebrity  in 
Science."] 

Do  not  use  consequence  for  importance  or  moment.  {Con- 
sequence means  result] 

Do  not  say,  "  He  is  of  a  capricious  mind"  Say  simply, 
"  He  is  capricious." 

Do  not  use  claim  for  assert  or  say. 

Do  not  use  upon  for  on,  after  to  call.  E.g. :  "lie  called 
on  [not  upon]  me." 

Do  not  say,  "  I  cannot  catch  the  train,"  for  "  I  cannot 
catch  jup  to  [or,  with]  the  train/' 


COMMON    ERRORS.  7 

Do  not  use  consider  for  deem  or  think.  [Consider  means 
to  ponder.] 

Do  not  use  curious  for  strange  or  remarkable. 

Do  not  use  caption  for  heading.  \Caftion  means  taking, 
or  capture.] 

Do  not  use  citizen  for  person. 

Do  not  use  circumstance  for  event  or  occurrence.  [A  Cir- 
cumstance is  "something  pertaining  to  a  fact,  but 
not  essential  thereto."] 

Do  not  use  may,  can,  must,  shall,  will,  and  other  auxiliary 
verbs  alone,  unless  the  form  of  the  preceding 
principal  verb  may  be  repeated  without  change 
after  the  auxiliary.  E.g.:  "  He  did  as  well  as  he 
could?  is  incorrect.  "  He  will  do  as  well  as  he  can? 
is  correct. 

Do  not  use  couple  for  two,  unless  the  persons  or  things 
spoken  of  are  joined,  either  literally  or  figuratively. 
Thus,  speak  of  a  happy  couple  [a  man  and  wife], 
or  of  a  couple  of  Jiandcuffs,  but  not  of  a  couple  of 
dollars. 

Do  not  use  calibre  [figuratively]  of  things.  It  is  a  appli- 
cable to  persons  only. 

Do  not  use  contention  of  an  individual  act :  a  contest, 
struggle,  combat.  {Contention  implies  habit  or  cus- 
tom ;  e.g. :  "  He  displayed  a  spirit  of  contention 
through  all  the  negotiations/'] 

Do  not  say,  "  He  was  on  the  horns  of  a  dilemma." 
[Dilemma  means  "two  enclosing  positions  terminat- 


8  COMMON    ERRORS. 

ing  in  what  may  be  called  horns."  Say,  therefore, 
"  He  was  between  the  horns  of  a  dilemma  ;"  or,  "  He 
was  in  a  dilemma."] 

Do  not  say,  "  In  distinction  [or  contradistinction]  to? 
[Use  from.] 

Do  not  say,  "It  would  be  desirable  [or  advisable^  to  go 
away."  Say,  "It  is  desirable  [or  advisable]  to  go 
away." 

Do  not  use  demean  for  bemean.  To  demean  oneself  \s  to 
behave  oneself;  to  bemean  oneself  is  to  lower  or  dis- 
grace oneself. 

Do  not  say,  "  Goods  of  that  description''  for  "  goods  of 
that  kind  or  sort."  [Confine  description  to  the 
meaning  of  explanation  or  recital] 

Do  not  use  detect  for  distinguish,  see,  make  out.  [Detect 
means  to  bring  to  light,  to  reveal,  to  expose.  Thus, 
"The  criminals  were  detected  in  their  crime,"  is 
correct.  "The  peasants  could  be  detected  at  once," 
is  incorrect. 

Do  not  use  dangerous  for  very  ill  or  in  danger. 

Do  not  use  denuded  as  an  exact  equivalent  of  bare.  [A 
thing  cannot  be  denuded  of  that  which  it  has  never 
had.] 

Do  not  use  deprecate  for  condemn  or  censure.  [Deprecate 
means  to  beg  off  or  pray  exemption  from.  E.g.: 
"I  deprecate  the  infliction  of  the  death  penalty  upon 
the  prisoner."] 

Do  not  say,  "  He  died  with  a  disease."     [Use  oj\\ 


COMMON    ERRORS. 


Do  not  use  directly  for  as  soon  as.  [Say,  "As  soon  as  he 
came  in,  he  went  out  again;"  not,  "Directly  he  &c., 
&c."] 


Do  not  use  donate  for  give,  unless  the  gift  is  princely  in 
amount  or  made  with  great  ceremony. 

Do  not  say  a  dirt  road  for  a  sand  [or  eartJi  or  gravel, 
&c.]  road. 

Do  not  use  divine  [as  a  noun]  for  clergyman,  minister, 
preacher,  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "That  property  has  depreciated  in  value? 
Depreciate  alone  means  to  fall  in  value.  In  value 
is  therefore  pleonastic.  [Depreciate  is  either  transi- 
tive (to  bring  down  the  value  of)  or  intransitive  (to 
fall  in  value).  The  former  is  said  to  be  the  prefer- 
able use,  but  the  latter  is  the  more  common  use.] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  differ  with  you  upon  that  point."  Say, 
"  I  differ  from  you  &c."  [Differ  with  is  sometimes 
used  for  quarrel  with,  or  have  a  misunderstanding 
with.  This  use  is,  however,  rather  rare.] 

Do  not  say,  "He  lives  some  distance  from  here."  Say, 
"  He  lives  at  some  distance  &c." 

Do  not  use  differentiate  for  distinguish.  [Differentiate 
should  be  confined  to  mathematical  and  other 
scientific  expressions.] 

Do  not  employ  expect  for  think  or  believe.  \Expect  means 
to  look  forward  to,  and  should  be  used  only  of  the 
future.] 


10  COMMON   ERRORS. 

-- 

Do  not  say,  "  He  has  lost  ever  so  many  horses."  If 
used  at  all,  the  expression  should  be,  "never  so 
many."] 

Do  not  say  equally  as  1'jell  as.     Say,  equally  zve!l>  or  as 
well  as. 

Do  not  say  equanimity  of  mind,  anxiety  of  mind,  una- 
nimity of  mind.  That  is,  do  not  use  compounds 
of  animus  or  anima  along  with  mind,  temper,  spirit, 
affection,  &c. ;  as  such  expressions  are  pleonastic. 
[So,  unity  or  agreement  of  mind  is  a  better  expression 
than  equanimity  of  mind.] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  have  every  confidence  in  him,"  for,  "  I 
have  the  greatest  [or  entire]  confidence  in  him." 

Do  not  use  executed  fa*  put  to  death.  [Laws  or  sentences 
are  executed  (i.e.,  carried  out),  and  the  criminal  is 
handed  or  shot  or  otherwise  killed.] 

Do  not  use  enact  for  act.  To  enact  is  to  establish  by 
law,  to  decree,  to  perform.  [So  say,  "  A  law  was 
passed  " — not  enacted  ;  but,  "  It  was  enacted  s  by 
law  that  all  murderers  should  be  put  to  death."] 

Do  not  use  endorse  for  approve  of,  applaud,  sanction. 
Confine  the  employment  of  endorse  to  its  ordinary 
commercial  meaning. 

Do  not  use  embrace  for  comprise. 

Do  not  use  empty  for  discharge  or  flow  into  [of  a 
river]. 


COMMON    ERRORS.  11 

Do  not  say,  "  He  tried  an  experiment?  [This  is  tauto- 
logical, as  an  experiment  is  a  trial.  The  expression 
should  be,  "He  made,  or  performed,  an  experi- 
ment."] 

Do  not  say  on  every  hand,  for  on  each  hand,  or  on  both 
hands. 

Do  not  use  either,  neither  and  ivhether  of  more  than  two 
persons  or  things. 

Do  not  follow  else  with  but.  Than  is  the  proper  word 
to  use  after  else. 

Do  not  use  exemplary  as  an  exact  synonym  for  excellent. 
[Exemplary  means  giving  an  example,  as  in  :  "He 
inflicted  exemplary  punishment."] 

Do  not  say,  "I  experience  great  pleasure  [or  pain"]. 
Say,  " 


Do  not  use  excessively  for  exceedingly  or  very. 

Do  not  use  effluviums  or  effluviae  for  effluvia  [the  plural 
of  effluvium.] 

Do  not  confuse  few  and  a  few.  There  is  a  great  dis- 
tinction in  meaning  between  the  two.  E.g.  :  "Few 
persons  like  Mr.  Smith,"  means  that  but  few  like 
him,  i.e.,  that  he  is  generally  disliked.  "A  feiv 
persons  like  Mr.  Smith,"  means  that  some  persons 
[perhaps  all  who  know  him]  like  him.  Therefore, 
few  should  be  followed  by  and;  a  few  by  but  ;  e.g.  : 
"  Few  persons  like  Mr.  Smith,  and  these  persons 
would  not  like  him  did  they  know  him  well."  "A 


12  COMMON    ERRORS. 

few  persons  like  Mr.  Smith,  but  more  persons  like 
Mr.  Brown." 

Do  not  confuse  at  fault  with  in  fault.  \At  fault  is  a 
hunting  phrase  meaning  "  off  the  scent "  (equivalent 
to  at  sea);  in  fault  is  in  error.] 

Do  not  say,  "  He  faithfully  promised  to  do  it."  [One 
may  do  a  thing  faithfully,  or  may  promise  to  do  it 
faithfully;  but  one  cannot  faithfully  promise  to  do  it.] 

Do  not  use  future  for  next  or  subsequent  [of  the  past]. 
Thus,  "The  future  career  of  Milton  was  &c.,"  should 
be,  "The  after  [or  subsequent]  career  of  Milton  was 
&c."  Again,  "  For  the  future  the  course  of  Colum- 
bus was  &c.,"  should  be,  "Thenceforward  [or  after 
thiSy  or  thereafter,  or  subsequently^  the  course  of 
Columbus  was  &c." 

Do  not  say,  "  Go  and  fetch  it."  [Fetch  alone  means  to  go 
and  bring.  The  expression  is,  therefore,  pleonastic.] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  forbid  you  from  going."  Say,  "  I  forbid 
you  to  go,"  or,  "I  forbid  your  going."  \\N\i\\prevent 
or  hinder,  however,  use  from.] 

Do  not  compare  adjectives  ending  in  fuL  Say,  "He 
showed  more  grace,"  or  use  some  other  expression 
in  preference  to  "  He  was  more  graceful?  [Of  course, 
the  adjective/^//  ought  never  to  be  compared.  In- 
stead of  saying.  "That  jug  is  fuller  than  the  other," 
say,  "  That  jug  is  more  nearly  full  than  &c."  A 
similar  remark  will  apply  to  many  other  adjectives 
(entire,  perfect,  &c.),  the  meaning  of  which  admits 
of  no  degrees  or  gradations.] 


COMMON   ERROES.  13 

Do  not  use  female  for  woman. 

Do  not  say  fall  down,  sink  down,  rise  up,  ascend  up,  &c., 
as  the  adverbs  are  implied  in  the  verbs.    Say  fall, 
•  sink,  rise,  ascend,  &c. 

Do  not  use  fix  for  repair,  arrange,  set  up.  \Fix  pro- 
perly means  to  fasten  firmly,  as,  "He  fixed  a  nail 
into  the  wall."] 

Do  not  spell  the  plural  of  fly,  a  carriage, ^fer.  The  cor- 
rect form  \sflys. 

Do  not  use  incorrect  forms  of  foreign  adjectives.     Say, 

na'ifs  men,  naives  ^vomen,  naifs  features,  i. £.,  make 
the  adjectives  agree  in  gender  and  number  with  its 
noun  taken  as  a  foreign  word.  [This  rule  applies 
especially  to  French  adjectives.] 

Do  not  use  the  word  graphic  of  sound,  or  of  anything 
but  written  or  pictured  representation. 

Do  not  use  going  to  vr  just  going  to,  for  about  to. 

Do  not  use  grow  as  a  transitive  verb.  Say,  "  He  culti- 
vates [produces,  raises  crops  of,  &c.]  corn." 

Do  not  say,  "He  grows  small  f  for  this  involves  a  con- 
tradiction. Use  decrease,  diminish,  become  smaller. 

Do  not  use  get  to  for  attend,  be  at,  be  present  at,  go  to. 

Do  not  use  gubernatorial  for  governmental. 

Do  not  use  gratuitous  for  asserted  without  proof . 


14  COMMON    ERRORS. 

Do  not  say,  "  The  thing  is  no  good  [or  no  use\?  Say, 
"The  thing  is  of  no  good  [<?/no  use]." 

Do  not  .say,  "That  is  one  of  the  great,  if  not  the  greatest 
man  I  have  ever  seen."  This  construction  involves 
a  grammatical  contradiction,  as  will  be  seen  by 
supplying  the  ellipsis:  "That  is  one  of  the  greatest 
[men],  if  not  the  greatest  [man],  I  have  ever  seen." 

Do  not  say,  "  He  gives  no  more  than  he  can  help'' 
[Logically,  it  ought  to  be,  "  He  gives  no  more  than 
he  cannot  help;"  but  as  this  expression  is  very 
awkward,  use  some  other,  e.g. :  "  He  gives  no  more 
than  is  absolutely  necessary,"  "  He  gives  only  what 
he  must  give  (or,  is  forced  to  give,  or,  cannot  avoid 
giving)."] 

Do  not  use  humanitarian  for  humane.  [The  original 
and  correct  meaning  of  humanitarian  is  denying 
the  divinity  of  Christ. 

Do  not  use,  as  an  adverb,  hardly  for  hard.  Say,  "  He 
struck  the  man  hard,"  "He  felt  the  blow  hard"  [not 
hardly].  Hardly  means  scarcely. 

Do  not  use  the  word  help-meet  [one  word].  Say,  "  He 
has  a  help  meet  [fit]  for  him,"  "He  has  a  help-mate," 
but  not,  "He  has  a  help-meet" 

Do  not  use  high  with  calibre^  when  the  latter  has  a  figura- 
tive meaning.  Say,  "A  man  of  large  [or  great} 
calibre." 

Do  not  use  have  pleonastically,  e.g. :  "  I  do  not  like  to 
have  you  go,"  for,  "  I  do  not  like  your  going,"  or, 
"  I  do  not  like  you  to  go." 


COMMON    ERRORS.  15 

Do  not  say,  *He  reached  a  higher  stage  of  perfection  than 
most  men."  [There  can  be  no  grades  or  stages  in 
perfection.  The  sentence  should  therefore  be,  "He 
came  nearer  perfection  &c."  A  similar  remark 
applies  to  all  these  other  words  (entirity,  totality, 
fulness,  &c.),  the  meaning  of  which,  from  their  very 
nature,  admits  of  no  gradations.] 

Do  not  use  if  for  whether.  Say,  "  I  cannot  tell  whether 
[not  if]  he  will 


Do  not  use  invest  for  buy,  without  an  object.  Say,  "  He 
bought/'  not,  "He  invested  in  that."  Invest  is  cor- 
rectly used  as  follows  :  "  He  invested  a  large  sum 
of  money  in  wheat." 

Do  not  use  idea  for  opinion.  \Idea  is  an  image  in  the 
mind.] 

Do  not  use  incorrect,  or  wrong,  or  bad,  with  orthography, 
orthoepy,  calligraphy,  &c.  [The  reason  is  obvious  : 
orthos  means  correct  kalos  means  beautiful.  So 
say,  wrong  spelling,  incorrect  pronunciation,  badwrit* 
ing,  &c. 

Do  not  use  individual  for  person,  unless  you  wish  to  em- 
phasize the  idea  of  individuality,  as  is  the  case  in  the 
following  sentence  :  "  We  may  condemn  the  associa- 
tion as  a  whole,  whilst  honoring  the  individuals 
that  compose  it." 

Do  not  use  infallible  for  Inevitable.  Say,  "  The  inevit- 
able [not,  the  infallible]  result  was  so  and  so." 


16  COMMON    ERRORS. 

Do  not  use  inaugurate  for  begin.  [To  inaugurate  is  to 
install  in  office  with  certain  ceremonies."  Inaugurate 
should  seldom  be  used  of  things,  unless  personified. 
It  is  the  proper  word  in  the  following  phrase :  "  To 
inaugurate  a  good  and  jovial  year."] 

Do  not  use  implicit  for  unbounded  or  unlimited,  as  it  is 
used  in,  "  I  have  implicit  confidence  in  him/1  [Im- 
plicit properly  means  woven  into,  expressed  bv  im- 
plication, as  opposed  to  explicit. 

Do  not  employ  item  for  paragraph  or  piece  of  news. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  have  not  seen  him  in  six  months,  in  a 
year,  &c."  [Use  for.] 

Do  not  say  an  illy  equipped  force,  for  an  ill  [or  badly] 
equipped  force.  There  is  no  such  word  as  illy :  ill 
being  both  abverb  and  adjective.  [In  England,  ill 
(as  adjective)  is  preferred  to  sick :  sick  having  the 
meaning  of  nauseated.  In  America  sick  and  ///  are 
almost  interchangeable.  Authority  shows  that  sick, 
in  the  sense  of  /'//,  is  perfectly  correct] 

Do  not  use  identified  with  for  prominent  in  or  closely  con- 
nected with,  as  it  is  used  in  the  following  sentence : 
"  He  was  identified  with  that  movement."  Prom- 
inently identified  with,  is  worse  still.  \To  identify 
is,  to  prove  to  be  the  same,  or  to  ascertain  or  cer- 
tify to  the  identity  of."  E.g. :  "The  body  was 
identified  as  that  of  Mr.  H."] 

Do  not  use  if  when  there  is  no  supposition  or  doubt. 
Do  not  say,  "  If,  in  the  main,  I  have  so  acted,  my 
reason  is  &c."  [Say,  "  My  reason  for  having  so 
acted  is  &c."] 


COMMON    ERRORS.  17 

Do  not  employ  interested  in  for  concerned  in  or  taking 
part  in.  It  is  correct  to  say,  "  I  am  interested  in 
\i.  e.,  I  take  an  interest  iii\  works  of  art ; "  but  it  is 
not  correct  to  say,  "  I  am  interested  in  wheat "  [for, 
"  I  deal  in  wheat,"  or,  "  I  am  engaged  in  wheat- 
buying"]. 

Do  not  say,  in  so  far  as,  for  so  far  as,  or  as  far  as. 
[The  in  is  clearly  superfluous.  Of  the  two  expres- 
sions, so  far  as  and  as  far  as,  the  first  is  greatly 
preferable.] 

Do  not  speak  of  a  monthly  or  a  quarterly  magazine  as  a 
journal.  [Etymologically,  a  journal  is  a  daily  news- 
paper.  The  term  journal  may,  however,  be  applied 
to  a  weekly,  a  semi- weekly  or  a  tri- weekly  publica- 
tion] 

Do  not  use  jeivelry  of  individual  gems  or  other  orna- 
ments. Say,  "His  stock  of  jet  e  ry  was  large;"  but, 
"  She  wore  magnificent  jewels'.'  [Jewelry  is  a  col- 
lective noun.] 

Do  not  spell  the  plural  of  Knight    Templar  Knights 
Templar  or  Knight  Templars;  it  is  Knights  Tem- 
plars.   \Templar  is  a  noun  in  opposition  to  Knight] 

Do  not  say,  "  The  lozvest  and  the  highest  house  on  the 
cliff,"  when  referring  to  the  position  of  the  houses. 
Use  lowermost  and  uppermost.  Lowest  and  highest 
should  be  applied  to  dimensions  only. 

Do  not  say,  "  He  left  it  alone,"  for  "  He  let  it  alone." 

Do  not  say,  "  He  ///  a  fire."  Use  lighted.  [Lit  is  some- 
times vulgarly  employed  as  the  past  tense  of  light 
(alight),  to  come  down  upon,  rest  upon.  Instead  of 


18  COMMON 

saying,  "The  bird  ///  upon  the  fence,"  say,  "The 
bird  alighted  upon  the  fence."] 

Do  not  use  leave  (to  quit)  without  an  object,  as  it  is  used 
in  "When  did  you  leave?"  [Say,  "When  did  you 
go  away?"  "When  did  you  leave  home,  town,  &c.?"] 

Do  not  say,  "  The  lay  of  the  land  is  good,"  for,  "  The 
lie  &c."  [The  use  of  lie  in  this  sense  should  be 
avoided  for  the  same  reason  that  makes  us  avoid 
the  use  of  certain,  any,  &c.,  viz.,  it  is  an  ambiguons 
word.] 

Do  not  use  limited  as  exactly  synonymous  with  small 'or 
short,  but  confine  it  to  its  strictly  literal  and  origi- 
nal meaning  of  shortened,  abbreviated,  compressed 
within  limits;  e.g.:  "He  was  granted  strictly 
limited  hours  of  recreation." 

Do  not  employ  loan  as  a  verb  Loan  is  properly  used  as 
a  noun,  the  corresponding  verb  being  lend.  Say, 
"  He  lent  me  money,  and  afterwarks  I  effected  [or 
made]  a  loan  for  him." 

Do  not  say, "  I  speak  loud','  for, "  I  speak  loudly''  [Shake- 
speare uses  loud  for  loudly,  but  loudly  is  the  correct 
prose  form  of  the  adverb.] 

Do  not  use  at  length  for  at  last,  finally.  \At  length  means 
fully,  lengthily,  as,  "He  reported  the  speech  at 
length/'] 

Do  not  use  myself  and  the  other  reflexive  pronouns  as 
nominatives,  except  for  emphasis.  Do  not  say, 
"When  the  soldiers  and  myself  \&&  gone."  [Use  / 
instead  of  myself ^\ 


COM:,ION  EHROIIS.  19 

Do  not  use  the  masses  for  tlie  people. 

Do  not  say,  "  He  is  more  of  a  man  than  I  am."  Use  some 
other  expression  :  more  manly,  better,  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "  /  am  mistaken?  for,  "  /  mistake,  I  make  a 
mistake,  I  am  incorrect,  &c."  ["  /  am  mistaken  " 
really  means,  "/  am  misunderstood"  or  "taken 

wrongly!'}  . 

Do  not  spell  the  plural  of  mlas:na,  miasma.  It  is  mias- 
mata. 

Do  not  use  make  tm  gain  or  earn.  [Say,  "Does  he  earn 
much?"  "Will  he  gain  much?"  not,  "Does  he 
make  much?"  "Will  he  make  much?"] 

Do  not  use  novitiate  for  novice.  [The  novitiate  is  the 
period  during  which  one  is  a  novice.} 

Do  not  say,  "  He  merely  named  the  incident  or  occur- 
rence." [A.  person  or  place  may  be  named,  but  not 
an  occurrence  or  event.  The  latter  is  mentioned, 
alluded  to,  described^} 

Do  not  say,  "  No  one  was  there,"  for, "  not  one  was  there." 
[The  adjective  no  was  originally  no  one.  Therefore, 
no  one  is  pleonastic.  The  adverb  no  is  etymologi- 
cally  not  or  never.  Therefore,  such  expressions  as 
no  sooner,  no  more  may  be  considered  correct,  al- 
though not  sooner,  not  more  are  preferable.  Nobody, 
no  person,  &c.,  may  often  be  advantageously  used  in 
place  of  no  one.  To  the  employment  of  these  there 
is  no  objection,  as  there  is  to  that  of  no  one} 

Do  not  say,  "No  gold  or  silver.  Say,  "No  gold  nor 
silver."  ["  No  gold  or  silver  "  would  mean  that  gold 


20  COKMON    ERRORS. 

and  silver  are  the  same  thing.  If  this  meaning  were 
intended,  there  ought  to  be  a  comma  after  gold,  or 
else  "or  silver"  ought  to  be  in  parentheses;  e.g. : 
"No  ancient  Mexicans,  or  Aztecs,  or  (or  Aztecs] 
were  to  be  seen."] 

Do  not  say,  " not  as  good"  " net  as  wise"  [After  not 
use  so.] 

Do  not  say,  "He  came  near  dying"  for  "He  almost  died/* 
"lie  narrowly  escaped  death,"  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "  No  gold  and  no  silver  are  here."  Use  the 
singular  verb.  [The  principle  in  this  case  is  the 
same  as  in  the  case  of  each  and  every] 

Do  not  use  nasty  for  disagreeable. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  never  remember  to  have  seen,"  for,  M  I 
do  not  remember  ever  to  have  seen."  ["  I  never 
remember  to  have  seen,"  really  means, ""  I  always 
forget  &c."] 

Do  not  use  "  next  Sunday,"  "  next  Monday,"  &c.,  for 
the  Sunday,  Monday,  &c.,  after  next.  [Next  Sunday 
is  the  nearest  Sunday.] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  never  committed  the  crime,"  for,  "  I  did 
not  commit  the  crime;"  i.e.,  do  not  use  never  for  not. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  do  not  think  it  is  true,"  for,  "  I  think  [or 
better,  believe}  it  is  not  true." 

Do  not  say,  "  He  was  nothing  like  so  good  as  his  brother," 
"He  wrote  nothing  like  so  well  as  his  brother/'1  [Use 
"  not  nearly?] 

Do  not  use  near  for  nearly.  [Say,  "  He  is  not  nearly  so 
rich  as  &c.,"  not,  "  He  is  not  near  &c."] 


COMMON    ERRORS.  21 

Do  not  use  the  expression  nezv  beginners  for  beginners 
alone. 

Do  not  say  on  the  street  for  in  the  street.  [A  street  is 
properly  a  passage  or  space,  not  a  roadway.] 

Do  not  employ  the  self-contradictory  expression  old  news. 

Do  not  use  he,  him  and  his,  or  s/ie,  her  and  her,  for  one 
and  one's.  Say,  "  When  one  learns  one's  lesson,  one 
&c. ;"  not,  "  When  one  learns  his  lesson,  lie  &c." 
[Of  course,  they,  their  and  them  ought  never  to  have 
one  as  antecedent] 

Do  not  use  over  and  above  for  mere  than. 

Do  not  use  over  his  signature  for  under  his  signature. 
[The  latter,  which  is  the  only  correct  form,  means 
under  the  sanction  of  his  signature.] 

Do  not  use  observe  for  say.  [I  observe  means  I  see  or 
notice.] 

Do  not  use  ovation  as  an  exact  synonym  for  shouting  and 
cheering.  Ovation  is  applied  correctly  to  great  occa- 
sions, festivals,  triumphs. 

Do  not  say,  "I  have  no  other  purpose  than  this."  Say, 
"  I  have  no  purpose  other  than  this,"  z,e.,  keep  other 
and  than  together.  [A  similar  rule  applies  to  com- 
paratives in  general  and  to  many  words  (e.g.,  rather) 
like  other )  which  have  a  comparative  form  and  force. 
Therefore  say,  "  Your  house  is  larger  than  your 
cousin's,"  in  preference  to,  "  That  is  a  larger  house 
of  yours  than  your  cousin's."] 

Do  not  say  old  veterans,  as  the  word  veterans  implies 
length  of  service.  If  "  length  of  days,"  as  well  as 


22  COMMON    ERRORS. 

length  of  service,  is  to  be  expressed,  use  aged  or 
some  other  word  or  phrase  instead  of  old. 

Do  not,  unless  unavoidable,  pluralize  the  indefinite  pro- 
noun one.  Prefer,  "  You  have  three  good  horses 
and  I  have  two  bad  horses,"  or,  "  You  have  three 
good,  and  I  have  two  bad  horses/'  to  "  You  have 
three  good  horses  and  I  have  two  bad  ones" 

Do  not  say,  among  the  others^  among  others,  among  the 
rest.  [A  person  or  thing  cannot  be  among  other 
persons  or  things.  Say,  along  with  the  others^  or 
others^  or  the  rest] 

Do  not  use  proposition  far  proposal  or  offer.  Say  :  "  I  made 
the  proposal  to  him ;  and  he,  in  return,  demonstrated 
the  proposition  for  me."  [Proposal,  in  the  sense  of 
offer,  is  preferable  to  proposition,  because  it  is  shorter 
and  unambiguous.] 

Do  not  use  pocket-hand-kerchief  and  neck-hand-kerchief 
for  hand-kerchief  or  neck-kerchief  respectively. 

Do  not  use  pretend  for  claim  or  assert.  Say,  "He 
claimed  [or  asserted]  that  he  was  correct." 

Do  not  use  preposterous  for  absurb.  [Preposterous  pro- 
perly means,  putting  the  first  last  and  the  last  first. 
Besides,  it  is  a  longer  word  than  absurd] 

Do  not  use  previous  and  subsequent  as  adverbs.  Say : 
"-He  came  previously  [or  subsequently]  to  your 
arrival." 

Do  not  use  partially  for  partly.  \Partially  should  be 
confined  to  its  meaning  of  with  partiality,  but  is  sel- 
dom employed. 


COMMON    ERRORS.  23 

Do  not  use  people  for  persons  individually.  Say,  w  There 
were  three  persons  [not,  people]  present."  [People 
means  a  race  or  nation,  or  else  persons  collectively — 
the  old  word /<?/£.] 

Do  not  use  a  plural  verb  or  pronoun  with  each  or  every. 
Say  :  "  Each  day  and  each  hour  [or,  every  day  and 
every  hour]  brings  its  cares." 

Do  not  use  ihefl/ural  form  of  the  noun  in  such  cases  as, 
"Men's  healths  have  suffered;"  "The  children's 
illnesses  have  increased."  [The  rule  is,  that  a  noun 
governing  the  possessive  plural,  should  not  itself  be 
in  the  plural,  unless  the  sense  requires  it.  This  rule 
will  apply  chiefly  to  abstract  nouns :  virtue^  sin,  &c. 
The  sense  will,  of  course,  require  the  plural  in  such 
an  instance  as,  "The  children's  hands  were  in- 
jured."] 

Do  not  use  the  plural  form  in  such  compound  adjec- 
tival expressions  as,  calves'./tftf/  jelly,  ten-yW  pole, 
twenty-dW7tfr  watch. 

Do  not  say,  "  All  have  rights  and  privileges?  [Privilege 
(literally,  private  law]  is  some  favor  or  advantage 
enjoyed  by  an  individual.  So,  all  have  rights ;  but 
all  have  not  privileges] 

Do  not  use  the  present  participle  for  the  past  participle 
or  the  perfect  participle.  So,  instead  of  saying, 
"After  seeing  him,  I  went  away;"  say,  "After 
having  seen  him,"  &c. 

Do  not  use  plastic  of  the  person  or  hand  that  fashions, 
but  of  the  material  fashioned.  Say,  "  His  plastic 
mind  was  easily  impressed  ;"  not,  "  He  moulded  with 
his  plastic  touch  the  mind  of  his  brother.". 


24  COMMON    ERRORS, 

Do  not  use  pell-mell  of  one  person  or  thing. 

Do  not  say,  "  Providing  he  has  the  money,  he  will  pay." 
Use  provided* 

Do  not  use  presume  for  think  or  believe.  Do  not  say,  "  I 
presume  that  is  correct." 

Do  not  use  period  for  point  of  time.  Period  means  series 
of  years  or  duration.  E.g. :  "  The  period  between 
1862  and  1882  was"  &c. 

Do  not  use  persuaded  for  convinced.     One  is  convinced 
by  argument ;  one  is  persuaded  by  entreaty.     One's    7 
is  persuaded  ;  one's  reason,  convinced. 

Do  not  use  quite  before  a  noun.  Do  not  say,  "That  is 
quite  a  house."  {Quite  may  properly  be  used  before 
an  adjective  ("  He  is  quite  ill"):  it  then  means  en- 
tirely,  completely  ;  not  tolerably,  pretty] 

Do  not  use  partake  for  eat  or  drink.  Say,  "  He  ate 
some  food  and  drank  some  water ,"  not,  "  He/#r- 
took  of  food  and  water."  \Partake  means  to  share 
or  share  with  ;  e.g. :  "  Sit  down,  and  partake  of  din- 
ner with  me."] 

Do  not  use  per  before  English  nouns  :  use  a.  Per  is 
correct  before  Latin  nouns.  [Thus  :  "  So  much  per- 
annum  ;"  "so  much  a  year;"  "per  capita,"  or  "a 
head."] 

Do  not  use  the  past  tense  for  the  perfect  tense.  Say, 
"He  is  the  best  man  I  have  ever  seen"  [not,  "  \ 
ever  saw  "]. 


COMMON    ERRORS.  25 

Do  not  use  replace  for  displace.  To  replace  is  to  place 
again,  i.  e.,  to  restore  [the  same  thing]  to  its  former 
place.  Displace  is  to  put  out  of  place,  and  therefore 
[often],  to  put  one  thing  into  the  place  of  another. 

Do  not  say,  "  You  have  no  right  to  pay  him  so  large  a 
price;"  meaning,  "You  are  not  called  upon  [or,  in 
duty  bound]  "  &c. 

Do  not  say,  "  It  is  rarely  that  I  see  him.  {Rarely ',  ad- 
verb, should  be  rare>  adjective,  after  the  verb  to  be.] 

Do  not  use  recommend  for  advise  or  counsel.  "  I  recom- 
mend'you  to  go  away,"  should  be,  "I  advise  you"  &c 

Do  not  use  rendition  for  performance  or  rendering  [of 
a  reading,  piece  of  music,  &c.].  Rendition  means 
surrender. 

Do  not  say,  «  Rev.  Mr.  H.  is  here."  Say,  "  The  Rev.  Mr. 
H.  is  here." 

Do  not  say,  "  This  road  takes  you  to  Paris."  Say,  "  This 
road  leads  [or,  leads  one'}  to  Paris." 

Do  not  use  remit  for  send.  Remit  means  to  send  back, 
to  relax,  to  surrender,  to  forgive.  "To  send  a 
remittance,"  is  still  worse  than,  "  to  remit  money." 

Do  not  use  the  adjective  scarce  for  the  adverb  scarcely. 
Say,  "  Scarcely  a  bushel  "  [not,  scarce]. 

Do  not  use  species  for  kind,  unless  in  a  scientific  sense. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  shall  have  pleasure  in  accepting  your  in- 
vitation." Use  the  present  tense  [I  have — or  take — 
pleasure"  &c.]. 


26  COMMON    ERRORS. 

Do  not  say,  seldom ^or  ever,  for  seldom  or  never >  or  seldom 
if  ever. 

Do  not  use  spare  for  give.  Spare  means  to  save.  So  : 
"  I  cannot  spare  you  any  more,  should  be,  "  I  can- 
not give  you  any  more." 

Do  not  use  sensation   for  exciting  news 

Do  not  use  since  for  ago.  Say,  "  About  a  year  ago  ;"  not, 
"  About  a  year  since.'1 

Do  not  say,  "  The  business  was  very  large,  so  much  so  as 
to  require  "  &c.  [Repeat  the  adjective  :  "  so  large  as 
to"&c. 

Do  not  use  summons,  as  a  verb,  for  summon.  Say,  "  He 
was  summoned  [not  summonsed}  to  court." 

Do  not  say,  "  He  is  such  another  man  as  his  brother." 
\Another  should  precede  such :  "  another  such."] 

Do  not  use  superior  for  able.  Say,  "  He  is  an  able  [not 
a  superior}  man." 

Do  not  use  supposititious  for  supposed  or  hypothetical*  Sup- 
posititious  means  spurious  ;  and  there  is  no  necessity 
for  using  it  at  all. 

Do  not  use  settle  hr  pay.  Say,  "  He  paid  the  account;" 
not,  "  He  settled  the  account." 

Do  not  use  such  for  so.  Say,  "  So  good  a  man  ;"  not : 
"  Such  a  good  man." 

Do  not  say,  " //  storms"  when  it  only  rains  or  snows.  [A 
storm  is  a  violent  movement  in  the  atmosphere,  with 
or  without  hail,  snow,  sleet  or  rain.] 


COMMON    ERRORS.  27 

Do  no  use  splendid  for  merely  great  or  good.  Splendid 
should  be  used  of  that  only  which  is  literally  or 
metaphorically  brilliant.  E.g. :  "  A  splendid  endur- 
ance of  hardships  on  the  march,"  is  incorrect.  "  A 
splendid  charge  upon  the  enemy,  when  the  march 
was  over  ;"  is  correct. 

4 

Do  not  say,  a  summer's  morning,  a  winters  morning ; 
for,  a  summer  morning,  a  vvinter  morning:  [We 
should  never  think  of  saying,  a  spring's  morning,  a 
fall's  morning] 

Do  not  use  strata  as  a  singular  noun.  Stratum  is  sin- 
gular ;  strata  is  plural. 

Do  not  speak  of  a  wider  [or  more  extended]  point  of  view 
\pr  stand-point]  ;  as  a  point  cannot  be  anything  but 
a  point.  [Point  of  view  is  preferable  to  standpoint ; 
as  the  latter  expression  is  logically  absurd  :  one 
cannot  stand  on  a  point.  If  stand-point  is  used,  do 
not  say,  u  He  approached  from  the  stand-point ;"  as 
approach  denotes  motion,  stand-point  rest.] 

Do  not  use  sincere  without  its  completing  words.  E.g. .' 
"  He  is  sincere  in  his  aims,  in  his  means ;"  is  correct 
[This  necessity  arises  from  the  two-fold  or  ambigu- 
ous meaning  of  sincere.  One  may  be  sincere  in  one's 
aims,  but  not  sincere  in  one's  means  of  reaching 
those  aims.]  Honest,  on  the  other  hand,  may  be 
used  alone  ;  as  it  means  straight-forward  and  sincere 
in  every  thing. 

Do  not  use  scorn  and  disdain,  as  verbs,  with  the  name 
of  a  person  as  object.  Do  not  say,  "  He  scorns  [or 


28  COMMON    ERRORS. 

disdains]  Mr.  S."     Use  despise,  look  down  upon,  or 
some  other  expression. 

Do  not  use  small  of  quantity.  \Small  is  applicable  only 
to  dimensions.  Thus,  do  not  say,  "  The  smallest 
assistance  will  be  thankfully  received."  It  should 
be,  "  The  least  as  Distance  "  &c.] 

Do  not  use  statu  quo  or  bona  fide  for  status  quo  or 
bona  fides.  Say,  "The  status  quo  remained  un- 
changed, each  party  having  preserved  bona  fides!' 
A  similar  remark  will  apply  to  many  other  foreign 
expressions.  Of  course,  wherever  there  is  a  satis- 
factory English  equivalent,  a  foreign  word  or  phrase 
should  not  be  used. 

Do  not  say,  "  Will  you  take  some  meat  ?"  Say,  "  Will 
you  have  veal  [or  beef,  or  whatever  it  is]  ?" 

Do  not  say,  "  It  is  a  quarter  to  ten."  Say,  "  A  quarter 
<?/ten." 

Do  not  say,  "  The  taxes  are  levied  on  persons,  and  col- 
lected from  land."     The  reverse  is  the  case  :  taxes  • 
are  levied  on  land  and  collected  from  persons. 

Do  not  use  though  for  if.  Say  :  "  I  feel  as  if  [not  though'] 
I  could  die." 

Do  not  say,  "  We  take  dinner,  tea,"  &c.     Use  have. 
i.       /•  i 

/!     >  ;  '•'     •       t  *  /'t 

Do  not  employ  thereabouts,  hereabouts,  whereabouts  (with 
finals)  as  adverbs.  Say,  "It  was  in  1859  or  there- 
about'' As  nouns  these  words  take  the  s  ;  e.g.:  "  Do 
you  know  his  whereabouts  ?" 

Do  not  say,  that  far,  that  much,  that  many,  &c.,  for  so  far, 
so  much*  so  many,  &c. 


COMMON    ERRORS.  29 

Do  not  use  the  word  tea  for  broth,  medicine,  solution, 
unless  absolutely  unavoidable.  \Tea  is  the  plant 
itself  or  the  beverage  made  from  its  leaves.] 

Do  not  say,  "  I  prefer  to  walk  to  ride!'  Say,  "  I  prefer 
walking  to  riding? 

Do  not  say,  "  I  have  been  to  Paris."  [Use  at.  One  can 
go  to,  but  not  be  to,  a  place].  ^D  ^  /fc  j£**^~  J  t* 

Do  not  say,  "  Which  do  you  the  more  admire  :  him  or 
her?" 


Do  not  use  underhanded  for  underhand.  Say,  "  He  made 
money  by  underhand  [not  underhanded]  dealings." 

Do  not  use  utter  as  an  exact  equivalent  of  say  or  express. 
[  Utter  is  to  speak,  give  forth,  or  pronounce,  generally 
in  a  loud  voice.]  Say  therefore,  "  He  uttered  a  sharp 
cry  ;"  but,  "  He  expressed  a  noble  sentiment." 

Do  not  use  ultimate  of  the  past.  Confine  it  to  the  future. 
Do  not  say  :  "  The  ultimate  issue  of  the  Thirty 
Years'  war  was"  &c.  Say,  "The  result  [or,  the 
issue,  the  end,  the  conclusion,  the  subsequent  course 
of  the  Thirty  Years'  War  was  "  &c. 

Do  not  use  the  adjective  utter  indiscriminately  for  entire 
or  complete.  E.g.:  One  may  say,  utter  nonsense  ; 
but  not,  utter  sense.  [A  similar  remark  will  apply 
to  the  adverb  utterly] 

Do  not  use  valuable  for  valued.  Say  :  "  One  of  our 
most  valued  [or,  most  highly  valued—  not  valuable] 
contributors  has  sent  us  a  most  valuable  [not  valued] 
article." 

3 


30  COMMON   ERRORS. 

Do  not  say,  "  I  am  very  pleased,"  "  too  pleased,"  "  so 
pleased  ;"  for,  "  I  am  very  much  pleased,"  "  too  much 
pleased,"  "so  much  pleased."  That  is,  with  past 
participles  used  as  adjectives  or  along  with  auxili- 
aries, insert  much  after  very,  too  and  so.  We  say, 
"  He  is  very  little  [too  little,  so  little]  loved."  We 
ought,  therefore,  to  say,  "  He  is  very  much  [too 
much,  so  much]  loved."  Strictly  speaking,  so  hated 
means  hated,  not  to  a  certain  degree,  but  in  a  cer- 
tain manner. 

Do  not  say  Toronto  and  vicinity ;  but,  Toronto  and  its 
vicinity.  {Neighbourhood  is  generally  a  better  word 
to  employ  than  vicinity.] 

Do  not  repeat  unnecessarily  the  word  whether.  Do  not 
say,  "Whether  he  was  rich,  or  whether  he  was 
poor."  [Omit  the  second  whetker.~\  As  has  been  said 
before,  whether,  either  and  neither  ought  properly  to 
be  employed  only  of  two  persons  or  things.  There- 
fore, where  several  are  mentioned,  they  should  be 
grouped  in  couples:  e.g. :  "Whether  he  has  gold 
or  silver,  whether  he  has  stocks  or  bonds;"  [or: 
"Whether  he  has  gold  or  silver,  stocks  or  bonds" 
(the  second  whether  being  unexpressed).]  This  is 
better  than:  "Whether  he  has  gold,  silver,  stocks 
or  bonds." 

Do  not  say :  "  Whether  he  be  right  or  wrong."  [Use 
with  whether  the  indicative  is,  not  the  subjunctive 
be,  unless  the  rules  given  for  the  subjunctive  apply 
to  the  sentence.] 

Do  not  say  :  "  Give  it  to  whomsoever  asks  for  it."  Say : 
"  Give  it  to  whosoever  [or  whoever]  asks  for  it."  [The 


COMMON    ERRORS.  31 

object  of  to  is  not  whomsoever,  but  some  noun  or 
pronoun  unexpressed  :  the  person,  him."] 

Do  not  say,  "  Where  have  you  gone  to?"  Say,  "Where 
have  you  gone  ?  " 

Do  not  use  the  verb  witness  for  see  or  behold.  Say : 
"  That  is  the  most  beautiful  scenery  I  have  ever 
beheld  [or  seen;  not  witnessed}?  To  witness  means 
to  see  or  be  present  at  the  performance  of  some  act 
or  at  the  occurrence  of  some  event.  So  a  man  wit- 
nesses a  fight,  but  does  not  witness  scenery.  Wit- 
ness, moreover,  generally  carries  with  it  the  idea  of 
giving  testimony.  Where  such  idea  is  lacking,  it  is 
better  to  use  see  or  behold. 

Do  not  use  what  for  ?  for  why  ?  Say  :  "  Why  do  you 
act  so?  "  not :  "  What  do  you  act  so  for?" 

Do  not  say,  "A  widow  woman"  [Omit  woman,  which  is 
superfluous.] 

Do  not  confuse  the  "editorial  we"  with  the  ordinary 
we,  as  is  done  in  the  following:  "As  a  public  jour- 
nalist, we  must  say  that  when  other  men  act  in  that 
way,  we  all  \i.  e.,  all  persons]  feel  aggrieved." 

Do  not  say  whether  or  no,  for,  whether  or  not,  unless  no 
is  an  adjective  qualifying  some  noun  unexpressed. 
Thus:  "Whether  he  comes  or  not  [not  no];"  but, 
"  Whether  he  is  a  merchant  or  no"  In  the  lat- 
ter instance,  however,  not  would  be  quite  correct. 
["•  Whether  he  is  a  merchant  or  is  not  a  merchant"J 

Do  not  use  "  the  whole  of"  [before  a  plural  noun]  for  all. 
Say:  "All  the  deputies  were  present ;"  not,  " The 
whole  of"  &c. 


32  GRAMMATICAL    POINTS. 

Do  not  use  winsome  for  winning.  Winsome  means 
joyous,  light-hearted.  "  His  daughter  was  a  win- 
some lass;  she  had  a  winning  smile." 

Do  not  use  worse  for  more.  Say  :  "  He  disliked  vinegar 
more  [not  worse]  than  pepper."  [A  similar  remark 
will  apply  to  better.] 

Do  not  use  want  for  need  [verb].  To  avoid  ambiguity, 
want  should  be  restricted  to  its  meaning  of  wish  or 
desire  ;  need,  to  that  of  lack  or  be  under  the  necessity 
of.  Say,  therefore,  "  I  want  to  go  for  a  drive  ;"  but 
not,  "  The  man  was  so  poor  that  he  actually  wanted 
[lacked,  needed]  bread  ;"  or  worse,  "  You  want  [need 
to,  or  must]  go  away." 

Do  not  say,  "  Yesterdays  Times  has  come."  Say,  "  The 
Times  of  yesterday  has  come." 

Do  not  end  a  letter  with  Yours  &c.,  for  Yours  truly \ 
Respectfully  yours,  or  some  other  expression. 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS. 

Avoid  such  constructions  as,  "The  object  of  your  brother's 
writing  the  letter  was"  &c.  [Prefer,  "The  object 
your  brother  had  in  writing  the  letter  was"  &c.;  or, 
"Your  brother's  object  in  writing  the  letter  was"  &c. 
The  gerundial  infinite  ought  to  be  used — if  at  all — 
but  very  sparingly  with  a  possessive  case,  especially 
when  the  possessive  is  preceded  by  of.  A  similar 
remark  applies  still  more  strongly  to  the  noun  form 
in  ing ;  e.g. :  "  His  killing  of  the  man  was"  &c. 

Be  careful  about  the  position  of  also,  even,  only — in  fact, 
of  all  adverbs,  prepositions  and  conjunctions.  As 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS.  33 

a  general  rule,  adverbs  precede  the  words  they 
modify.  Thus:  "He  only  writes,"  is  correct;  but, 
say,  "  He  does  nothing  but  write ;"  or  use  some 
other  expression. 

Prefer :  "  In  the  works  of  even  great  men  ;  "  to,  "  In  the 
works  even  of  great  men."  So  :  "  Of  botJi  ancient 
and  modern  times,"  is  better  than,  "Both  <?/"  ancient 
and  of  modern  times."  {Both  would  properly  come 
before  of  in  such  a  construction  as  :  "  Both  of  and 
from  him."]  "  Both  of  ancient  and  modern  times  " 
[without  the  second  of]  is  entirely  incorrect. 

"  Nobody's  else  book,"  is  said  to  be  preferable  to,  "  No- 
body else's  book."  Custom  has,  however,  firmly 
established  the  latter  form.  But  it  is  better  to  em- 
ploy some  other  expression  ;  e.g. :  "  The  book  of 
no  one  else ;"  "  No  other  person's  book." 

"Thou  canst  not  tell  whence  it  cometh  or  whither  it 
goeth."  Or  should  be  used  here,  as  the  not  modifies 
(in  meaning)  all  the  subsequent  part  of  the  sentence. 
We  should  never  think  of  saying  :  "  Whence  it 
cometh  nor  whither  it  goeth,  thou  canst  not  tell." 
In,  "We  will  not  serve  thy  gods  nor  worship  the 
golden  image  which  thou  hast  set  up ;"  nor  is  cor- 
rect ;  as  serve  does  not  govern  the  rest  of  the  sen- 
tence. [Some  grammarians,  however,  contend  that 
or  would  be  equally  good  :  the  effect  of  the  not  ex- 
tending over  both  subsequent  verbs.  The  sound- 
ness of  this  contention  is  questionable.]  The  most 
elegant  form  to  give  the  sentence  is  ;  "  We  will  not 
serve  thy  gods,  nor  will  we  worship  the  golden 
image"  &c. 


34  GRAMMATICAL   POINTS.. 

In  such  an  expression  as,  "I  do  not  want  butter  or 
honey;"  the  strict  meaning  is,  "  I  do  not  want  merely 
one  of  the  two."  "  I  want  neither  butter  nor  honey," 
means,  "  I  do  not  want  either." 

When  two  nouns  in  the  possessive  case  are  in  apposition, 
the  apostrophe  and  s  may  be  added  to  either  noun. 
Thus  :  "  This  book  is  Virgil,  the  Roman  poefs ;"  or : 
'•  This  book  is  Virgil's,  the  Roman  poet."  [If,  how- 
ever, the  appositive  enlargement  is  complex,  or  if  it 
consists  of  several  terms,  the  apostrophe  and  s  should 
be  added  to  the  first  noun.  E.g.:  "This  book  is 
Virgil's,  the  great  and  renowned  Roman  poet." 
Again,  if  each  appositive  noun  is  very  emphatic,  the 
apostrophe  and  s  may  be  added  to  each.  When  any 
doubt  arises  as  to  the  proper  form,  employ  another 
expression ;  e.g.:  "  This  book  is  one  of  the  works  of 
Virgil,  the  great  and  renowned  Roman  poet." 

Avoid  the  use  of  such  forms  as,  "John,  William  and 
James's  father."  Prefer,  "The  father  of  John,  William 
and  James;"  or,  "The  father  of  John,  of  William 
and  of  James." 

None  and  any,  although  originally  singular,  may  now  be 
used  as  plurals. 

Such  expressions  as,  "While  playing,  the  boy  was  killed," 
are  quite  correct.  That  is,  the  auxiliary  may  be  left 
out,  although  the  phrase  is  introduced  by  a  sub- 
ordinate conjunction. 

When  the  auxiliary  verb  used  with  a  past  participle  con- 
sists of  two  words  (i.e.,  is  compound),  the  adverb 
generally  comes  after  the  compound  auxiliary,  not 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS.  35 

between  its  two  parts.  E.g.:  "Why  he  should  have 
suddenly  renounced  his  faith,"  &c.;  is  better  than, 
"Why  he  should  suddenly  have  renounced"  &c. 
The  best  form,  perhaps,  is,  "Why  he  should  have 
renounced  his  faith  suddenly  "  &a 

It  is  correct  to  say,  "  This  seven  years  has  passed;" 
"  This  hundred  dollars  is  there :"  the  seven  years 
being  taken  as  forming  one  period  of  time  ;  and  the 
hundred  dollars,  one  sum  of  money.  To  avoid  the 
seeming  want  of  agreement  between  the  singular 
and  the  plural,  use  some  collective  noun  after  this ; 
e.g.:  space, period,  in  the  first  case  ;  sum,  amount,  in 
the  second.  [The  forms,  these  seven  years,  these  hun- 
dred dollars,  would  draw  attention  to  the  individual 
years  and  the  individual  dollars.] 

As  a  general  rule,  collective  nouns  (that  is,  those  nouns 
as  which  have  both  the  singular  and  the  plural  form, 
number,  crowd)  require  a  singular  verb  with  their 
singular  form,  and  a  plural  verb  with  their  plural 
form.  [However,  the  plural  verb  may  be  used  with 
the  singular  form  when  the  idea  of  plurality  is  to  be 
very  prominent]  Nouns  of  multitude,  on  the  other 
hand,  (that  is,  those  which  have  no  plural  form,  as 
clergy,  nobility)  generally  require  a  plural  verb.  E.g. : 
"The  clergy  were  assembled ;  there  was  a  large  num- 
ber present." 

Do  not  use  such  words  as  mathematics,  statics,  physics, 
metaphysics  (i.  e.,  words  originally  plural,  but  now 
used  in  the  singular),  as  subjects.  So,  say :  "  The 
study  [or  science,  or  practice]  of  mathematics  is  use- 
ful;" rather  than,  "  Mathematics  is  [or  are]  useful." 


36  GRAMMATICAL   POINTS. 

Dare,  meaning  to  venture,  and  used  with  another  verb, 
requires  no  to  before  this  latter  verb,  and  has  in 
its  past  tense  dztrst  and  in  its  third  person  singular 
present  indicative  dare  (not  dares).  [The  form 
dared  may,  however,  be  used  for  durst,  in  the  past 
tense.  Dared  will  then  take  no  to  before  the  infini- 
tive. Durst  is  often  employed  for  the  present  dare, 
although  the  latter  is  preferable ;  e.g. :  "  He  durst 
not  do  so." 

Dare,  as  a  principal  verb,  meaning  to  challenge,  has  dares 
in  the  third  person  singular  present  indicative,  and 
dared  in  the  past.  E.g. :  "  He  dares  me  to-day,  and 
he  dared  me  yesterday  to  fight." 

Need  has,  in  the  third  person  singular  present  indicative, 
the  same  peculiarity  as  dare.  Meaning  to  lack  and 
used  as  a  principal  verb,  it  takes  s ;  meaning  to  be 
necessary,  and  used  as  an  auxiliary  (without  to),  it 
does  not;  e.g.:  "He  needs  money;  still  he  ;/m/not 
beg." 

The  participle  and  the  infinitive  may  be  used  absolutely, 
as:  "  Speaking  [or,  to  speak}  generally,  it  is  advisable 
to  go."  This  absolute  form  should  be  but  sparingly 
employed. 

If,  although,  and  other  conditional  conjunctions  do  not 
necessarily  require  the  subjunctive  mood.  They  do 
require  it,  (i)  When  the  conception  is  contrary 
to  facts;  e.g. :  "If  the  world  were  round."  (2) 
When  the  supposition  is  a  mere  mental  conception, 
without  reference  to  how  the  matter  will  really  be 
decided,  or  to  what  the  result  will  be;  e.g. :  "If 
he  went  away  [or,  were  to  go  away],  I  should  be 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS.  37 

happy."  [In  such  expressions  as,  "  If  it  rains,  I 
shall  not  go  out ;"  the  indicative  is  to  be  preferred  to 
the  subjunctive.] 

As  a  principal  verb,  do  may  be  employed  for  active 
transitive  verbs  only.  For  these  verbs,  moreover,  do 
ought  not  be  used — except  to  avoid  excessive  re- 
petition— when  they  are  of  but  one  syllable,  unless 
they  are  followed  by  other  words  forming  a  phrase, 
for  which  phrase  do  may  stand.  E.g.  :  "  He  carves 
marble  better  I  do  ;"  but,  "  He  writes  better  than  I 
write."  [In  this  last  sentence  it  would,  of  course, 
be  incorrect  to  omit  the  verb  after  //  as  the  first 
form  of  the  verb  (writes)  can  not  be  used  with  /.] 
Many  good  writers  employ  do  for  active  intransitive 
verbs  such  as  fly,  run,  act ;  but  this  use  should  be 
avoided.  As  an  auxiliary,  do  may  not  be  used 
without  its  principal  verb  unless  the  form  of  the 
principal  verb  already  employed  permits  such  use ; 
i.e.,  unless  this  preceding  verb  may  be  repeated 
without  change  after  the  do.  E  .g. :  "  He  has  not 
looked  well  lately,  nor  does  he  to-day ;"  should  be 
"  He  *  *  *  ;  nor  does  he  look  well  to-day."  [A 
similar  remark  applies  to  other  auxiliaries  when 
employed  without  their  principal  verbs.] 

"The  verses  are  as  follows;"  [or,  "as  follow?]  Both  ex- 
pressions are  sanctioned  by  good  usage. 

Some  may  be  correctly  used  in  such  expressions  as, 
"  some  fifty  men,"  "  some  ten  miles  ;"  /.  e.,  "  about 
fifty  men,"  &c.  This  employment  of  some  is  be- 
coming obsolete. 


38  GRAMMATICAL    POINTS. 

You  may  properly  occur  in  the  same  sentence  with,  and 
as  an  equivalent  of,  Your  Majesty,  Your  Excellency, 
&c.  E.g. :  "  Your  Majesty  says  your  Majesty  has  " 
&c. ;  or  :  "  Your  Majesty  says  you  have  "  &c.  [The 
first  is,  of  course,  much  more  formal  than  the  second, 
and  should  be  preferred  when  addressing  persons 
of  high  station.] 

"  It  is  I,  your  brother,  who  begs  you."  "  It  is  I,  your 
brother,  who  beg  you."  In  the  first,  the  emphasis  is 
on  the  word  brother ;  in  the  second,  on  the  /.  [In 
the  latter,  it  is  better  to  enclose  your  brother  in 
parentheses,  the  corrfma  being  omitted.] 

In  "  not  only — but  also?  the  also  may  be  omitted.  E.g.  : 
"  He  not  only  killed  the  man,  but  he  mutilated  the 
corpse/'  [It  is  generally  better  to  use  the  complete 
form,  "  not  only  — but  also."] 

Do  not  use  like  for  as.  Say  :  "As  did  Nero  of  old,  so 
Thebaw  put  countless  numbers  of  victims  to  death  ;" 
not,  "Like  Nero  of  old,  Thebaw"  &c.  The  use  of 
like  for  as  is  defended  on  the  ground  that  the  sen- 
tence may  be  expanded  into  :  "  Being  like  Nero, 
Thebaw"  &c.  Still,  it  is  the  actions  of  the  men 
that  are  compared,  not  the  men  themselves. 

Avoid  such  awkward  collocations  as,  "  This  is  a  far 
[or  much\  richer  man  than  his  brother."  Say, 
"  This  man  is  far  [much]  richer  [or,  richer  by  far] 
than  "  &c.  A  like  remark  applies  to  such,  similart 
and  many  other  words.  Say,  "  A  horse  such  as  that 
is  worth  one  hundred  dollars  ;"  rather  than,  "  Such 
a  horse  as  that  is  "  &c. 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS.  39 

The  or  in  whether — or  may  be  left  out ;  but  it  is  gen- 
erally better  to  express  it.  So :  "I  do  not  know 
whether  he  will  come  or  not,"  is  better  than,  "  I  do 
not  know  whether  he  will  come." 

The  adjective  is  often  used  for  the  adverb  before  a  pre- 
sent participle  employed  as  an  adjective  to  qualify  a 
noun.  E.g.:  "a  plain-speaking  man/'  "a  good- 
looking  man,"  "  a  right-living  man."  [In  such  ex- 
pressions, it  is  better  to  unite  the  adjective  and  the 
participle  with  a  hyphen.]  With  a  past  participle, 
the  adjective  is  very  rarely  used.  E.g. :  "  a  plainly 
furnished  house,"  "a  well  dressed  man."  Occa- 
sionally the  adjective  occurs  with  the  past  participle; 
e.g.:  "a  plain-spoken  man." 

When  the  construction  is  changed  from  the  negative  to 
the  affirmative,  repeat  the  subject  pronoun  ;  or,  if  a 
noun  is  the  subject,  insert  the  personal  pronoun  be- 
fore the  second  verb.  Thus  :  "  He  does  not  walk, 
but  he  rides."  With  whosoever,  whoever,  &c.,  as 
subjects,  it  is  not  necessary  to  use  the  pronoun  before 
the  affirmative  verb.  E.  g.  :  "  That  whosoever  be- 
lieveth  on  Him  might  not  perish,  but  have  everlast- 
ing life."  When  a  change  of  tense,  mood  or  voice 
occurs,  it  is  generally  advisable  to  insert  the  pronoun 
before  the  second  verb,  although — as  is  elsewhere 
explained — it  is  necessary  to  do  so  only  when  the 
verbs  are  emphatically  distinguished  or  contrasted. 
[When  the  change  is  from  the  affirmative  to  the 
negative,  the  repetition  of  the  subject  or  the  inser- 
tion of  the  pronoun  is  not  necessary.  Indeed,  the 
the  repetition  of  the  subject  depends  largely  on  the 


40  GRAMMATICAL    POINTS. 

emphasis  desired  or  on  the  "sound"  of  the  sen- 
tence.] 

Say,  "  Solomon,  son  of  David,"  rather  than,  "  Solomon, 
t/te  son  of  David."  [The  rule  is  that  the  article 
ought  not  to  be  used  before  those  appositive  nouns 
which  are  strictly  limited  by  other  definite  words 
The  insertion  of  the  article  before  David  is  not  ab- 
solutely incorrect ;  but  the  omission  of  it  produces 
a  good  effect  and  sometimes  prevents  ambiguity,  as 
in,  "  John,  [the]  son  of  Smith,  and  Jones,  are  here." 
Where  a  second  addition  occurs,  the  article  must  be 
omitted  even  although  it  has  been  used  before  the 
first  addition.  Thus :  "  The  Apostle  James,  son 
(or,  the  son)  of  Zebedee,  and  brother  (not,  the 
brother)  of  St  John".] 

Say,  "  The  eldest  son  of  a  duke  is  called  Marquis  [not  a 
Marquis]."  The  article  is  not  to  be  used  before 
titles  as  titles,  or  names  as  names.  \E.g. :  "Derive 
Thames."]  With  two  or  more  nouns,  the  article 
need  not  be  repeated  when  there  is  no  ambiguity. 
When  there  is,  it  should  be  repeated.  Thus : 
"  The  Queen  and  King  are  here,"  is  correct  [The 
repetition  of  the  article  would,  of  course,  add  empha- 
sis to  the  expression,  i.  e.,  it  would  draw  attention  to 
each  individual  person  or  thing.  E.g. :  "A  cool 
temper,  a  sound  judgment,  a  kindly  disposition."] 

"  The  European  and  tJie  African  race ;"  or,  "  The  Euro- 
pean race  and  the  African  race''  Here  two  races 
are  meant:  the  one  European,  and  the  other  African. 
"  The  European  and  African  races?  has  the  same 
meaning.  "The  European  and  the  African  races," 


GRAMMATICAL   POINTS.  41 

means  there  are  two  or  more  European  and  two 
or  more  African  races.  This  latter  meaning  would  be 
more  clearly  expressed  by  inserting  the  word  races 
after  the  word  European. 

"  The  conductor  and  the  driver,"  implies  two  men.  "  The 
conductor  and  driver,"  implies  one  man.  Say,  there- 
fore: "Solomon,  the  historian  and  builder;0  not, 
"  Solomon,  the  historian  and  the  builder." 

"  The  bay  or  lame  horse,"  refers  to  one  horse.  "  The 
bay  or  the  lame  horse,"  refers  to  two  horses.  [In 
the  former  sentence,  it  wonld  be  better  to  put  a 
comma  after  fay.]  The  rule  in  all  these  cases  is, 
that  the  article  must  be  repeated  when  there  are  two 
or  more  persons  or  things.  With  but  one  person  or 
thing,  the  article  may  be  repeated,  as  in  poetry  or 
for  the  sake  of  emphasis.  E.g. :  "A  sadder  and  a 
wiser  man."  It  follows  from  the  foregoing  rule, 
that  there  should  be  no  repetition  of  the  article  in 
such  a  phrase  as,  "  He  is  a  better  poet  than  musi- 
cian? "  He  is  a  better  poet  than  a  musician," 
would  mean,  "  He  is  a  better  poet  than  a  musician 
is." 

"  The  logical  and  grammatical  analysis  of  a  language  is 
[are]"  &c.  If  but  one  analysis  is  meant — i.e.,  if 
there  is  but  one  subject — the  verb  should  be  in  the 
singular,  is.  If  two  analyses  are  meant — /.  £.,  if  there 
are  two  subjects — the  verb  may  be  in  the  plural,  are. 
In  the  latter  case,  however,  it  is  better  to  supply  the 
article  before  grammatical.  ["  The  logical  and  the 
grammatical  analysis  are,"  &c.]  It  is  still  better  to 
supply  the  first  subject  ["Th?  logical  analysis  and" 


42  GRAMMATICAL    POINTS. 

&c.]  :  the  verb  being  made  plural.  The  supplying 
of  this  ellipsis  {analysis}  avoids  the  clash  between 
a  singular  subject  alone  and  a  plural  verb.  Upon 
the  same  principle,  "  The  position  of  the  materialist 
and  that  of  the  idealist  are  reconcilable,"  is  to  be 
preferred  to,  "  The  position  of  the  materialist  and 
of  the  idealist  are  reconcilable."  [The  determining 
principle  in  all  these  cases  is  not  whether  the  adjec- 
tives have  the  same  meaning,  but  whether  they 
qualify  the  same  subject.] 

Do  not  say,  "  No  greater  or  wiser  a  man  ever  lived/' 
Say,  "  No  greater  or  wiser  man  "  &c. 

The  gerundial  noun  with  the  is  generally  to  be  preferred 
to  the  simple  gerund.  E.g. :  "The  eating  of  meat 
is  forbidden,"  is  better  than,  "Eating  meat"  &c.  [In 
some  instances  the  latter  form  would  cause  con- 
fusion of  meaning.] 

An  excellent,  but  rather  loosely  worded,  rule  for  the  use  of 
shall  and  will  is  as  follows :  "  If  the  speaker  is  nomina- 
tive to  the  verb,  and  also  determines  the  accomplish- 
ment of  the  idea  expressed  by  the  verb  ;  or  if  the 
speaker  neither  is  nominative  to  the  verb  nor  deter- 
mines the  accomplishment  of  the  idea  expressed  by 
the  verb,  use  will.  In  all  other  cases,  use  shall" 

Say,  "It  should  seem  that  he  has  done  so."  [Not,  "It 
would  seem  "  &c.] 

In  impersonal  assertions,  such  as :  "  It  is  hoped  [desired, 
&c.]  that  all  should  sit  down,"  shall 'and  should  ought 
to  be  used.  In  direct  and  personal  assertions,  such 
as :  "  I  desired  that  my  conductor  would  explain," 


GRAMMATICAL    POINTS.  43 

will  and  would  are  to  be  preferred.  [Shall  and 
should  are,  in  such  constructions,  not  incorrect ;  but 
will  and  would  are  preferable.  Perhaps  the  best 
rule,  in  sentences  such  as  the  foregoing,  is,  that  when 
a  command  is  intended,  shall  and  should  must  be 
used ;  when  a  hope  or  wish  is  intended,  will  and 
would  may  be  used  ] 

In  a  subordinate  clause,  to  express  simple  futurity,  use 
shall  w\&  should  when  the  subject  of  the  subordinate 
clause  is  the  subject  of  the  principal  clause  also ; 
ivill  and  would  when  it  is  not.  Thus  :  "  I  believe  I 
shall  live  ;"  "  I  believe  he  will  live  ;"  "  He  believes 
he  shall  live." 

Again,  in  an  independent  clause  use  shall  and  should 
when  the  event  spoken  of  is  under  our  control;  wUl 
and  would 'when  it  is  not.  E.g.  :  "You  said  it  should 
be  done ;"  "  You  said  it  would  rain." 

Do  not  say,  "I  would  be  happy  to  go,  if"  &c.;  or,  "I 
will  be  happy  to  go."  Use  should  and  shall.  [The 
idea  of  willingness,  or  volition,  is  sufficiently  ex- 
pressed in  the  word  happy.  Hence,  would  and  will 
are  tautological.] 

After  nouns  and  adjectives  following  intransitive  and 
passive  verbs  the  infinitive  with  to  is  generally 
preferable  to  the  gerund  in  -ing,  to  express  purpose, 
end,  design.  E.g. :  "  He  has  power  to  act ;"  "It  is 
fitted  to  produce  that  result." 

"  Solomon,  son  of  David,  who  slew  Goliath ;"  is  correct. 
"Solomon,  son  of  David,  who  built  the  Temple  ;"  is 
incorrect.  [The  relative  should  refer  to  the  nearest 


44  GRAMMATICAL   POINTS. 

antecedent.  So,  change  the  second  phrase  into, 
"  The  son  of  David,  Solomon,  who"  &c. ;  or,  "Solo- 
mon, who  was  the  son  of  David,  and  who'1  &c.;  or 
employ  some  other  form.] 

Say,  "  He  who  was,  and  who  is,  and  who  is  to  come;" 
or,  "  He  who  was,  who  is  and  who  is  to  come.31 
That  is,  repeat  the  relative,  especially  when  a  con- 
junction occurs.  [If  the  sentence  were  to  read,  "He 
who  was,  is  and  is  to  come;"  He  might  seem  to 
be  the  subject  of  the  first  and  the  second  is,  and  not 
of  some  verb  unexpressed.]  The  possessives  also 
should  be  repeated  before  nouns  that  are  to  be  dis- 
tinguished. E.g. :  "Their  form  and  their  use  give 
us  great  trouble," 

Do  not  use  that  for  who  or  which,  when  the  antecedent 
is  explicit.  Say :  "  My  father,  who  [not,  that]  is 
dead." 

Who  or  which  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  when  the 
relative  is  separated  from  its  verb  or  its  antecedent, 
and  is  emphasized  by  isolation/  E.g. :  "  There  are 
many  persons  who,  had  they  opportunities,  would 
succeed  in  life." 

Who  or  which  is  to  be  preferred  to  that  when  the  relative 
is  governed  in  the  objective  by  a  preposition  that 
has  the  appearance  of  an  adverb  (beyond,  over,  under, 
&c.).  E.g. :  "The  limit  beyond  which  no  one  has 
gone,"  is  better  than,  "  The  limit  that  no  one  has 
gone  beyond." 

Avoid  the  use  of  than  whom  when  whom  is  not  really  in 
the  objective  case.  Instead  of  than  whom  [which 


GRAMMATICAL   POINTS.  45 

is  grammatically  incorrect]  and  than  zv/io  [which, 
although  grammatically  correct,  has  a  very  strange 
sound]  employ  some  other  form.  E.g.:  In  place  of» 
"  Nero,  than  whom  no  crueller  man  has  ever  lived, 
was"  &c.;  say,  "Nero — and  no  crueller  man  has  ever 
lived — was"  &c. ;  or,  "No  crueller  man  than  Nero  has 
ever  lived.  He  was"  &c.  [Of  course,  when  the 
relative  is  in  the  objective  case,  whom  is  correct  after 
than;  e.g. :  "  My  brother,  than  whom  I  love  no  one 
more  dearly,  is  ill."] 

Who  or  which  may  sometimes  [e.g.,  to  avoid  uudue  re- 
petition] be  used  for  that ;  but  that  ought  never  to 
be  usd  for  who  or  which. 

After  indefinite  pronouns  or  indefinite  pronominal  adjec- 
tives (others,  several,  many,  some,  none,  one,  &c.),  who 
or  which  is  to  be  preferred  to  that. 

After  personal  pronouns  prefer  who  or  which.  E.  g. : 
"  He  who  is  wise,"  &c. 

After  the  conjunction  that,  prefer  who  or  which.  E.  g.  : 
"  He  said  that  the  man  who  saw  him  "  &c. 

It  is  not  improper,  to  follow  the  demonstrative  this  by 
the  relative  that.  E.  g.  :  "  It  was  this  that  caused 
his  death." 

When  who  or  which  is  used  restrictively  for  that,  it  is 
well  to  place  the  or  that  before  the  antecedent,  e.g.  : 
"  The  States  [or,  those  States]  which  border  on 
Canada,"  &c. 

The  objective  relative  may  be  omitted  whenever  the 
antecedent  and  the  subject  of  the  relative  sentence 


46  GRAMMATICAL   POINTS. 

come  into  juxtaposition  ;  e.g. :  "  Give  me  the  book 
you  have." 

The  personal  pronoun  it  and  the  relative  pronoun  which 
may  have  as  antecedents  a  short,  clear  clause ;  but 
this  usage  is  not  desirable.  So,  although,  "He  gave 
me  his  word  of  honour:  which  I  had  not  expected," 
is  not  incorrect ;  yet  it  is  better  to  say,  "  He  gave 
me  his  word  of  honour  :  a  thing  I  had"  &c.;  or,  "He 
gave  me  his  word  of  honour.  I  had  never  expected 
this." 

Avoid  such  a  relative  construction  as :  "  That  was  the 
man  who,  the  witness  said,  had  broken  into  the 
store/'  Say:  "That  man,  the  witness  said,  had" 
&c.;  or:  "That  was  the  man,  the  witness  said,  who" 
&c. ;  or :  "  That  was  the  man  whom  the  witness 
accused  of  having  broken  "  &c.  [The  fault  of  the 
first  construction  is  that,  for  an  instant,  the  mind 
is  in  doubt  whether  ^vho  or  ^vhom  ought  to  be  used  ] 

Distinguish, according  to  the  sense  you  wish  to  convey,  be- 
tween the  use  of  the  adjective  and  that  of  the  adverb, 
after  intransitive  verbs  expressing  action  [go,  come, 
arrive,  depart,  &c.]  E.g. :  "  He  arrived  safe."  "He 
arrived  safely."  The  former  denotes  his  condition 
upon  arrival,  without  reference  to  his  condition  upon 
the  way.  The  latter  denotes  his  condition  upon  the 
way,  without  reference  to  his  condition  upon  arrival. 
So  say:  "He  came  safely  through  numberless  perils, 
but  dropped  dead  upon  the  threshold  of  his  own 
home." 

Lesser  may  be  used  of  dimensions,  but  not  of  quantity. 
Thus  :  "  He  is  lesser  than  his  brother,"  is  not  incor- 


GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION.  47 

rect ;  but,  "  He  is  smaller  than  [or,  shorter  than,  or 
not  so  large  as],"  &c.,  is  better.     "  There  is  lesser 

wheat  than  corn,"  is  incorrect. 


GENERAL  SUGGESTIONS  UPON  COMPOSITION. 

To  avoid  ambiguity,  report  a  speech  in  the  first,  not  in 
the  third  person. 

Try  to  avoid  the  use  of  words  that  have  two  or  more 
meanings:  any,  certain,  left,  lie,  &c.  [Any  is  some- 
times used  incorrectly  for  indefinitely  large;  e.g.: 
"  He  gave  me  any  number  of  books."] 

Avoid  using  a  word  that  leaves  us  for  a  moment  doubt- 
ful what  part  of  speech  it  is.  E.g.:  "The  good 
remains,  he  said,"  &c.  [Until  something  further  is 
given,  we  are  in  doubt  whether  remains  is  a  noun, 
the  subject  of  some  unexpressed  verb  ;  or  a  verb, 
agreeing  with  its  subject,  good,  used  as  a  noun.] 

Avoid  fat  excessive  use  of  such  expressions  as,  of  this 
sort,  of  this  kind,  in  this  way,  in  this  manner.  It  is 
better  to  repeat  the  words  to  which  the  reference  is 
made. 

Avoid  what  is  called  the  prospective  use  of  it.  Say, 
"  To  give  is  good  ;"  not,  "  It  is  good  to  give." 

It  is  often  said  that  a  sentence  ought  not  to  end  with  a 
preposition.  There  is  no  objection,  however,  to  such 
an  ending,  provided  the  preposition  governs  a  rela- 
tive pronoun  and  is  not  likely  to  be  mistaken  f^r 


48  GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION. 

some  other  part  of  speech.  Thus  :  "  The  rule  that 
I  always  adhere  to,"  is  quite  correct.  [If  preferred, 
"The  rule  to  which  I  always  adhere,"  may,  of 
course,  be  used.]  It  is  hardly  necessary  to  say  that 
the  clause  or  sentence  should  not  end  with  the  to  of 
the  infinitive;  i.  e.,  to,  the  sign  of  the  infinitive,  ought 
never  to  be  used  alone. 

Avoid  the  excessive  use  of  there  is,  there  are,  there  will 
be,  &c. 

To  relieve  the  monotony  and  to  give  force  to  the  expres- 
sion, change  such  constructions  as,  "He  replied  that 
he  deemed  it  best  that  his  example  should  not  be 
followed  ;"  into,  "  He  deemed  it  best,  he  replied,  that 
his  example  should  not  be  followed." 

Force  may  often  be  gained  by  the  use  of  particular, 
in  place  of  general,  terms.  E.g. :  gold  for  great 
riches,  a  crust  of  bread  for  poverty.  On  the  same 
principle,  a  particular  proper  name  may  be  used 
effectively  for  a  common,  or  class,  name.  E.g. : 
"Solomon,"  is  more  forcible  than  "the  wisest  man;" 
"  Nero,"  than  "  the  most  cruel  man." 

The  great  rule,  however,  for  force,  or  effect,  is  that  the 
reader  shall  be  kept  in  suspense ;  that  is,  that  he 
shall  be  made  to  feel  the  incompleteness  of  the 
sentence,  until  the  end  is  reached.  To  attain  this 
object  the  following  directions  have  been  given : 

(1)  Put  a  conditional  clause  first,  not  last.     E.g. : 
"  If  he  wishes,  I  will  go  away."     [When  the  condi- 
tional clause  is  veiy  emphatic,  it  may  be  placed  last] 

(2)  Let  participial  phrases  come  before  the  words 


GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION.  49 

qualified  by  them.  E.g. :  "Wasted  by  disease,  worn 
out  with  toil,  he  was  fast  sinking  into  the  grave." 
[This  remark  will  often  apply  to  adjectives  and  ad- 
verbs, as  well  as  to  participles.  E.g. :  "Weary  of  life, . 
glad  to  depart,  he  quietly  passed  away."]  (3)  Use 
suspensive  words:  not  only,  but  also;  either,  or ; 
partly,  partly ;  on  the  one  hand,  on  the  other ;  in 
the  first,  second,  &c.,  place.  Of  course,  this  "prin- 
ciple of  suspense"  is  not  to  be  too  frequently 
employed. 

Emphatic  words  must  be  in  emphatic  positions ;  i.  e.,  at 
the  beginning  or  at  the  end  of  the  proposition. 
"  Coward  though  he  was,  he  was  forced  to  fight ;"  is 
much  more  striking  than,  "  He  was  forced  to  fight, 
although  he  was  a  coward." 

The  most  emphatic  place  for  the  subject  is  at  the  end, 
its  ordinary  place  being  at  the  beginning  of  the 
proposition. 

On  a  similar  principle,  the  object  is  made  emphatic  by 
putting  it  before  its  verb. 

Again,  emphasis  may  be  given  by  the  use,  before  the  em- 
phatic noun,  of  such  an  expression  as,  as  for  the, 
as  to  the,  concerning,  &c. 

Avoid  putting  a  minimizing  expression,  such  as,  at  least, 
at  all  events,  at  any  rate,  between  two  emphatic 
expressions. 

Avoid  the  placing  of  an  unemphatic  word  at  the  end 
of  the  proposition.  The  following  sentence  is  weak, 
because  this  rule  has  not  been  observed.  "  The  docu- 
ments proved  how  just  in  all  his  dealings  he  was." 


50  GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS    UPON   COMPOSITION. 

What  have  been  called  "  short,  chippy  endings"  should 
be  avoided,  as  such  endings  spoil  the  rythm  which 
should  exist  even  in  prose.  E.g.:  "The  man, 
pierced  with  balls,  died  ;"  is  bad. 

Prepositions  and  pronouns  attached  to  emphatic  words 
need  not,  however,  be  removed  from  the  end.  So  : 
"  Bear  witness  how  he  loved  him,"  is  correct.  [In 
such  instances  the  emphatic  and  the  unemphatic 
word  form,  as  it  were,  a  compound  expression.] 

Avoid,  on  the  other  hand,  a  monotonous  final  emphasis. 

Frequently  an  idea  may  be  expressed  more  forcibly  in 
the  form  of  a  question  than  in  that  of  an  assertion. 

Brevity  may  often  be  obtained  by  the  use  of  a  word  for 
a  phrase.  E.  g.  :  unintelligible ',  indelible. 

Brevity  may  be  obtained,  also,  by  the  use  of  metaphors, 
in  place  of  literal  words  or  phrases. 

The  omission  of  the  present  participle  often  gives  brevity 
and  force  to  the  sentence.  E.g.:  "The  Indians 
[being]  on  the  war-path,  what  dared  we  do  ?" 

Brevity  may  be  gained  by  using  the  imperative  for 
other  moods.  E.g.:  "Do  this,  and  you  will  suf- 
fer ;"  for,  "  If  you  do  this  "  &c.  [This  use  of  the 
imperative  should  be  indulged  in  but  sparingly.] 

Repeat  the  nominative  when  the  verbs  of  the  various 
clauses  are  of  diverse  moods,  tenses  or  voices  and 
are  emphatically  distinguished.  E.g. :  "  He  is,  and 
he  always  has  been,  rich." 


GENERAL   SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION.  51 

Repeat  the  preposition  after  an  intervening  conjunction, 
especially  if  a  verb  and  a  pronoun  also  intervene. 
E.g.:  "The  man  does  not  remember  the  respect 
he  ought  to  have  for  those  persons  who  have  helped 
him,  and  for  his  old  friend  C.  in  particular."  [If 
the  preposition  for  were  not  repeated  after  and,  the 
sentence  might  mean  that  the  man  does  not  re- 
member his  old  friend  C.  in  particular.] 

Do  not  repeat  the  sign  to  of  the  infinitive  unless  atten- 
tion is  called  to  each  individual  verb. 

When  otherwise  there  would  be  doubt  as  to  whether  an 
infinitive  expresses  a  purpose  or  not,  and  it  is  in- 
tended that  it  shall  express  a  purpose,  use  in  order 
tJiat,  for  the  purpose  of  [followed  by  the  form  in 
-ing\>  °r  some  such  phrase.  [Purpose  may  be  clearly 
shewn,  of  course,  by  the  use  of  that  with  an  auxili- 
ary verb.  E.  g. :  "  He  died  that  we  might  live ;" 
which  is  equivalent  to :  "  He  died  in  order  to  give 
us  life.35] 

To  avoid  ambiguity,  or  to  add  emphasis,  repeat  the 
subordinate  conjunction.  E.g. :  "  When  the  hunter 
had  returned  to  the  far-off  camp,  and  when  he  had 
recounted  his  adventures  "  &c. 

Be  careful  in  the  use  of  participial  constructions.  E.g.  : 
"They  will  be  shunned  on  their  return,  accom- 
panied by  the  oppressors  of  their  country ;"  may 
mean,  "  on  account  of  their  being  accompanied  " 
&c. ;  or,  "when  they  are  accompanied"  &c.  So: 
"  Children,  playing  on  the  ice,  often  fall ;"  may 
mean  :  "  Children  that  play  "  &c. ;  or  "  Children, 


52  GENERAL    SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION. 

when  they  play"  &c.  It  is  best  to  confine 
the  use  of  the  participial  phrase  to  the  ad- 
verbial meaning  ["  Children,  when  they  play  "  &c.]  ; 
and  with  other  meanings  to  employ  the  relative  pro- 
noun ["  Children  that  play  "  &c.].  When  the  par- 
ticipial phrase  precedes  the  main  proposition,  the 
former  usually  implies  cause  ;  when  it  follows,  time. 
E.g.:  "Seeing  this,  he  withdrew"  \ie.  u  He  with- 
drew because  he  saw  this."]  "  He  withdrew,  seeing 
this"  [i.e.,  "He  withdrew  when  he  saw  this."]  If 
there  is  doubt  as  to  which  meaning  is  intended, 
use  an  introductory  phrase,  such  as,  while  seeing, 
upon  seeing. 

There  are  various  constructions  that  may  take  the  place 
of  the  relative  pronoun  or  of  the  relative  clause.  The 
infinitive  may  often  be  used  with  effect.  E.g. :  "  He 
was  the  last  that  died,"  may  be  expressed  as :  "He 
was  the  last  to  die."  Again,  if  or  some  other  con- 
ditional word  may  be  used  to  introduce  a  dependent 
clause.  E.g. :  "  If  a  man  sins,  he  will  be  punished  " 
[i.  e.,  "  The  man  that  sins "  &c.]  Again,  the  con- 
junction and  the  demonstrative  pronoun  may  be 
used.  E.g. :  "  He  wasted  his  time  at  X.,  which  was 
very  foolish ;"  may  be  changed  into :  "  He  wasted 
his  time  at  X.,  and  this  was "  &c.  Again,  pro- 
nominal adverbs  (whereby,  wherein,  &c.)  may  take 
the  place  of  the  relative  and  a  preposition. 

Very  often,  after  a  negative,  the  antecedent  to  the  rela- 
tive should  be  repeated,  or  a  summing-up  noun 
introduced.  E.g.:  "He  said  he  would  not  hear  me 
— a  refusal  that  I  expected."  When  otherwise  there 


GENERAL    SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION.  53 

would  be  ambiguity,  the  same  construction  should 
be  used  with  an  affirmative. 

Prefer  verbal  clauses  to  verbal  nouns.  "  That  he  had 
betrayed  his  country  was  not  so  plainly  shown," 
is  better  than  :  "  His  having  betrayed  "  &c. 

Avoid  what  is  called  "  mistake  of  subject."  E.g.  :  "  The 
late  arrival  of  the  train  caused "  &c.,  should  be : 
"  The  lateness  of  the  arrival "  &c  So  :  "  Excuse  a 
letter  to-day,"  should  be :  "  Excuse  my  not  having 
written  a  letter  to-day." 

In  prose  be  careful  to  avoid  zeugma,  i.e.,  the  application 
of  a  word  to  two  or  more  ideas,  to  only  one  of 
which  it  is  really  suitable.  E.g.  :  "  The  landscape 
and  the  shoutings  formed  a  strange  sight" 

The  great  rule  for  figures  of  speech,  especially  for  meta- 
phors and  similes,  is  to  use  strictly  appropriate 
language.  Therefore,  do  not  say,  "  Convey  an  im- 
pression? Say,  "  Make  [or  leave]  an  impression." 
Do  not  say,  "  The  car  of  progress  rolls  onward, 
gnashing  its  teeth  in  its  course." 

In  metaphorical  language  the  pronouns  usually  agree 
with  the  noun  used  metaphorically,  as  if  it  were 
taken  in  its  literal  sense.  E.g. :  "  The  stone  which 
the  builders  rejected,"  &c.  Afterwards,  however, 
the  pronouns  may  agree  with  the  noun  in  its  figura- 
tive sense.  E.g. :  "  Behold  I  lay  in  Zion  a  chief 
corner-stone;  and  he  that  believeth  on  Him!'  &c- 

Do  not  employ  different  forms  and  expressions  for  the 
same  person  or  thing,  unless  there  is  a  peculiar 


54  GENERAL    SUGGESTIONS    UPON    COMPOSITION. 

appropriateness  in  each  term  or  expression.  Only 
confusion  results  from  speaking,  within  narrow 
limits,  of  Columbus  as  "the  Genoese  navigator," 
"  the  discoverer  of  America,"  &c. 

It  is  a  bad  fault,  therefore,  to  repeat  the  meaning  in 
terms  but  slightly  differing  one  from  another.  Thus, 
do  not,  in  close  connection,  use  such  synonyms  as 
all,  universal,  total. 

A  new  construction  ought  not  to  be  introduced  without 
sufficient  cause.  E.g.:  "On  horseback  and  on  foot," 
is  preferable  to,  "  On  horseback  and  walking ;" 
"  The  dead  and  the  living,"  to,  "  The  dead  and  those 
still  on  the  earth." 

Let  each  sentence  have  one,  and  only  one,  subject  or 
thought.  That  is,  avoid  mixed  or  confused  sen- 
tences. 

It  is  often  a  good  thing  to  introduce  each  sentence  of  a 
paragraph  by  a  short  connecting  expression :  accord- 
ingly, therefore,  so,  then.  [Such  words  as  but,  and, 
and  other  conjunctions  generally  used  to  join 
clauses,  may,  for  the  sake  of  clearness,  introduce  a 
new  sentence.] 

Sometimes  two  important  sentences  may  very  effectively 

«,         be  united  by  a  short  connective  sentence,  such  as  : 

"This  was  as  follows,"  "  The  result  was  as  expected." 

Often  a  good  effect  is  produced  by  making  a  statement 
or  by  giving  an  explanation  twice  :  first,  briefly,  and 
then  fully  ;  or  vice  versti. 

The  guiding  principle  in  descriptive  writing  is  to  imagine 
we  see,  actually  before  us,  the  thing  to  be  described. 


WOZDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  55 

Except  in  scientific  or  other  very  precise  writing,  avoid 
the  frequent  use  of  technical  terms.  It  savors  of 
pedantry,  as  the  meaning  of  these  terms  is  often 
unknown  to  the  general  reader.  This  "  technical 
slang  "  is  commonly  seen  in  newspaper  accounts  of 
sporting  and  musical  events.  Why  should  bowling 
be  called  "trundling  the  leather,"  or  a  lacrosse  ball 
the  "rubber"?  Why  should  the  report  of  a  con- 
cert fairly  bristle  with  "technique"  and  "  timbre  >; 
and  "genre"  and  "  morceau  "?  Perhaps  it  is  to  dis- 
play the  writer's  intimate  knowledge  of  the  subject. 


WORDS  OFIEN  CONFUSED,  SYNONYMS, 
OPPOSITES. 

Advantage,  benefit. 

Advantage  is  "a  state  of  forwardness  or  advance  ;" 
and  the  word  is  applied  rightly,  therefore,  to  one 
person  or  thing  in  relation  to  other  persons  or 
things.  Benefit  is  simply  gain  or  profit,  without 
comparison  of  one  person  or  thing  with  another. 
[Thus :  "  He  possesses  an  advantage  over  me,"  is 
correct  "All  derived  advantage  from  it,"  is  incor- 
.  rect] 

Also,  likewise. 

Also  is  applied  to  things  and  qualities,  and  denotes 
mere  addition.  Likewise  is  applied  to  states  of 
being  or  of  action  ;  and  denotes  some  agreement  or 
connection  between  the  ideas  expressed  in  the  words 
it  joins.  [Thus  :  "  He  is  a  prince  and  also  a  musi- 
cian ;"  but :  "  lie  is  a  poet  and  likewise  a  musician."] 


5G  WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

Ability,  capacity. 

Ability  is  the  power  of  doing  something.  Capacity 
is  the  faculty  of  receiving  something  \e.g. :  new  ideas, 
great  thoughts.]  [So :  "  That  statesman  has  great 
ability ;"  "  That  pupil  had  wonderful  capacity."] 

Answer •,  reply. 

An  answer  is  given  to  questions;  a  reply,  to  attacks 
and  accusations.  [An  answer  to  an  answer  ma}% 
however,  be  called  a  reply.] 

Amid  [amidst],  among 

Amid  or  amidst  is  used  generally  when  the  sur- 
roundings are  of  a  different  nature  from  the  person 
or  thing  surrounded.  Among,  when  they  are  of  the 
same  nature.  Again,  amid  or  amidst  is  generally 
applied  to  quantity ;  among,  to  number.  [So : 
"  among  friends  ;"  "  amidst  enemies  ;"  "  among  thou- 
sands;" "amid  the  snow."] 

Abandon,  desert,  forsake. 

Abandon  and  desert  generally  imply  something 
blame-worthy  in  the  one  who  adandons  or  deserts ; 
forsake  does  not.  Again  :  abandon  and  forsake  are 
used  of  persons  and  things,  desert  is  used  of  causes 
or  of  persons,  but  not  of  things.  [Thus :  "  The  sol- 
dier deserted  his  post  of  duty."  "  The  man  aban- 
doned his  early  friends."  "  We  forsook  the  dear 
old  homestead."] 

Assist,  aid. 

Assist  implies  mutuality  of  help ;  aid,  not  neces- 
sarily so.  ["  The  sufferers  assisted  one  another." 
ft  I  aided  him  in  his  distress."] 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  57 

Anger,  wrath. 

Anger  is  inward  feeling.  Wrath  is  inward  feeling 
accompanied  by  outward  manifestations.  ["  The 
wrath  of  the  elements."  "  The  anger  of  the  inmost 
soul."] 

Accurate,  exact. 

Accurate  is  aiming  at,  and  therefore  attaining  to, 
correctness.  Exact  has  not  necessarily  this  implica- 
tion of  intention,  and  may  be  used  of  accidental 
correctness.  ["  He  was  very  honest  and  accurate 
in  his  accounts."  "  He  was  exact  in  that  financial 
statement,  but  it  was  by  chance."] 

Authentic,  genuine  (applied  to  books,  writing,  &c.). 

Authentic  is  that  which  gives  a  true  account  of  the 
matters  in  question.  Genuine  is  that  which  has  been 
written  or  composed  by  the  person  whose  signa- 
ture the  book  or  paper  bears.  ["  This  is  a  genuine 
letter  of  the  great  Captain's  ;  but  it  does  not  give 
an  authentic  account  of  the  voyage/'] 

Admittance,  admission. 

Admittance  is  the  right  of  entry ;  admission  is  the 
actual  entry.  ["  The  admittance  fee  was  twenty- 
five  cents."  "The  burglar  gained  admission  to  the 
house  by  a  window.'*] 

Allow  and  permit. 

Allow  is  the  stronger  of  the  two.  ["  I  begged  to 
to  be  allowed  to  go  ;  but  I  was  refused."  "  Permit 
me  to  show  you  to  a  seat."] 


58  WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITE8. 

Appear,  seem. 

Seem  is  confined  to  the  mind  ;  appear,  to  the  senses. 
["  It  seems  to  me  that  you  have  made  a  mistake. ' 
"  That  house  appears  white  to  me."] 

Bountiful  and  plentiful. 

Bountiful  is  used  of  persons ;  plentiful,  of  things. 
["  The  game  was  plentiful."  "  A  bountiful  giver."] 

Bravery,  courage,  valor. 

Bravery  is  a  natural  quality  ;  courage  and  valor  are 
acquired  qualities  ;  courage,  in  particular,  being  the 
result  of  reason.  Bravery  and  valor  are  confined  to 
contests  with  living  beings  ;  courage  is  not.  Again, 
valor  is  not  used  of  single  combat,  but  of  war  ; 
bravery  and  courage  may  be  used  of  single  combat. 
["The  natives  showed  great  bravery."  "  He  bore  his 
sufferings  with  undaunted  courage."  "His  military 
career  was  one  long  record  of  valor/'] 

Beneficent,  beneficence ;  benevolent,  benevolence. 

Beneficent  is  used  chiefly — if  not  entirely — of  actions. 
Benevolent  is  used  of  both  actions  and  feelings, 
chiefly  of  feelings.  The  same  thing  may  be  said  of 
most  adjectives  and  nouns  having  the  endings  -ficent 
and  -ficence  [facio,  I  do]  respectively,  and  -volent 
and  -volence  [volo,  I  will]  respectively;  e.g.:  munifi- 
cent, malevolent.  [a  He  was  naturally  very  benevo- 
lent ;  but,  owing  to  the  circumstances  of  his  life,  he 
could  not  shew  any  very  great  beneficence."  "  He 
was  a  very  munificent  man,  continually  giving  away 
his  money  to  the  poor."]  The  use  of  these  words 
should  be  confined  to  persons  or  personified  things. 
It  is  incorrect,  therefore,  to  speak  of  a  munificent  gift. 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  59 

Brevity,  conciseness ;  brief,  concise. 

Brevity  is  mere  shortness.  Conciseness  is  shortness 
along  with  condensation.  ["  His  speech  was  very 
brief;  for  really  there  was  nothing  to  be  said." 
"  Mr.  H.  is  very  concise  in  his  speeches :  they  are 
short,  but  full  of  matter."] 

Continuous,  continual. 

Motion  is  continuous  when  there  are  no  interruptions. 
It  is  continual  when  there  are  interruptions.  ["  Life 
itself  is  continuous."  "The  demands  upon  ones 
purse  are  imperative  and  continual."] 

diameter,  reputation. 

Character  is  our  real  inner  worth  ;  reputation  is  the 
world's  opinion  of  our  character.  ["His  reputation 
is  bad;  but,  could  we  see  his  real  character,  we 
should  find  him  not  so  bad,  after  all."] 

Conscious,  aware. 

Conscious  applies  to  the  heart,  the  soul,  the  con- 
science :  L  e.,  to  the  moral  and  spiritual  part  of  man. 
Aware  applies  to  the  mind.  ["  He  was  conscious 
of  his  sin."  "  He  was  not  aware  that  you  saw  him/'] 

Crime,  sin,  vice. 

A  crime  is  an  infraction  of  the  law  of  a  particular 
land  or  people.  Sin  is  the  violation  of  a  religious 
law.  This  law  may  be  common  to  many  lands  or 
peoples.  Vice  is  a  continual  course  of  wrong-doing, 
and  is  unaffected  by  country,  religious  belief,  or 
state  of  life  :  being  a  line  of  conduct  harmful  to  the 
vicious  man  or  to  others.  [Smuggling  is  a  crime  ; 
idleness  is  a  sin,  and,  if  long-continued,  it  becomes 
a  vice  ] 


60  WORDS   OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

Courteous,  polite  [polished]. 

Courteous  has  reference  chiefly  to  others  ;  polite  or 
polished,  to  ourselves.  The  former  is  "  objective  ;" 
the  latter,  "subjective."  [Thus:  "We  met  an  old 
fisherman,  who  took  us  home  and  treated  us  with 
great  courtesy  and  kindness.  Of  course,  he  was  not 
polished :  in  fact,  he  had  very  little  idea  of  polite- 
ness/'] 

Catalogue,  list. 

A  catalogue  is  a  list  accompanied  by  short  explana- 
tions or  notes.  "  The  list  of  the  paintings  was  only 
a  page  and  a  half  long ;  but  the  complete  catalogue 
— compiled  later  — occupied  four  pages."] 

Casual,  accidental,  fortuitous. 

That  is  casual  which  is  unpremeditated.  That  is 
fortuitous  which  is  "  opposed  to  systematic  design." 
{Fortuitous  generally  implies  a  combination  of 
events.]  That  is  accidental  which  interrupts  (gener- 
ally unpleasantly)  the  ordinary  course  of  events. 
["  Walking  carelessly  along,  I  took  a  casual  look  at 
the  prison  window  ;  and  there  I  beheld  my  friend." 
"  The  accidental  stopping  of  the  coach  saved  him  a 
further  explanation."  "  The  meeting  was  quite  for- 
tuitous :  it  would  not  have  taken  place  once  in  a 
thousand  times.'] 

Compel^  compulsion  ;  coerce,  coercion. 

Compel  and  compulsion  generally  imply  the  employ- 
ment of  physical  force.  Coerce  and  coercion  do  not, 
their  meaning  being  almost  always  confined  to 
moral  or  mental  pressure. 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  61 

Confess,  acknowledge. 

Confess,  confession,  imply  that  what  is  told  was  be- 
fore unknown  to  the  person  to  whom  the  confession 
is  made.  Acknowledge,  acknowledgment,  have  no 
such  implication.  ["  But  what  was  their  surprise 
when  the  captain  confessed  that  he  himself  was  the 
murderer !"  "  The  monster,  being  accused  of  the 
crime,  acknowledged  his  guilt."] 

Conjecture,  surmise. 

A  surmise  is  founded  on  evidence  ;  a  conjecture,  not 
necessarily  so.  A  conjecture,  therefore,  is  generally 
of  something  visionary ;  a  surmise  of  something 
practical.  ["  His  conjecture,  that  the  moon  is  in- 
habited, is  now  discredited."  "After  taking  ob- 
servations, he  surmised  that  the  Indians  contem- 
plated an  attack."] 

Con-  and  Co-  [in  composite  words]. 

Con-  is  used  before  a  consonant ;  co-,  before  a  vowel 
When,  however,  the  two  parts  are  very  distinct,  co- 
is  preferred,  before  even  a  consonant.  A  hyphen 
will,  in  such  cases,  generally  be  used.  [Contempo- 
rary, coeval,  co-partner.] 

Complete,  finished. 

Complete  means  lacking  nothing.  Finished  means 
done  as  far  as  was  intended.  ["  The  house  is 
finished  for  the  winter;  but  still,  much  more  labor 
will  be  required  to  make  it  complete."] 

Custom,  Jiabit,  usage. 

Custom  and  usage  apply  to  society  ;  habit  applies 
to  an  individual.  Again,  usage  implies  long  stand- 
ing /  custom,  not  necessarily  so.  a  ["  My  habit  in 


62  WORDS   OFTEN   CONFUSED,   SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITE3. 

Africa  was  to  rise  early.  Early  rising  is  a  custom 
of  the  country,  sanctioned  by  immemorial  usage?] 

Discriminate,  distinguish. 

Discriminate  is  used  of  small  differences ;  distin- 
guish^ of  great  differences.  Again  :  discriminate 
applies  to  several  objects  ;  distinquish,  to  two.  Fur- 
ther :  discriminate  is  generally  used  of  the  mind  ; 
distinguish,  of  the  senses.  ["  By  the  light  of  the 
lantern  he  distinguished  the  bodies/'  "  He  discri- 
minated among  the  specimens,  which,  to  an  unprac- 
tised eye,  appeared  all  the  same."] 

Despotism,  tyranny. 

Despotism  exists  by  law  or  of  right.  A  tyranny 
exists  in  the  face  of  law  and  right.  A  despotism 
may,  therefore,  be  mild,  as  has  often  been  the  case 
in  history. 

Determine,  resolve. 

Resolve  is  stronger  than  determine.  ["  I  am  resolved 
to  die  rather  than  give  up  my  Church."  "  I  am  de- 
termined to  get  the  book,  if  possible."] 

Directed,  guided. 

One  is  directed  by  a  person  at  a  greater  or  less  dis- 
tance. One  is  guided  by  a  person  close  at  hand. 
["  Taking  our  hand,  he  guided  us  through  the  forest." 
"  Standing  on  an  eminence,  he  directed  the  pilgrims 
to  their  various  quarters,  by  a  movement  of  the 
hand."] 

Deduction,  induction. 

In  reasoning,  deduction  is  proceeding  from  generals 
to  particulars ;  induction,  from  particulars  to  gen- 
erals. 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  63 

Direct,  address. 

A  letter  is  directed  to  him  who  is  to  receive  it ;  ad- 
dressed, to  him  who  is  to  read  it.  A  parcel,  there- 
fore, is  directed,  not  addressed. 

Drive,  ride. 

Drive  is  to  urge  along  ;  ride^  to  be  borne  along. 
This  is  the  distinction  in  America.  ["  Mr.  Vander- 
bilt  drove  a  beautiful  span  of  bays ;  his  wife  rode 
beside  him."]  In  Great  Britain  and  Ireland,  drive 
generally  refers  to  vehicles  (except  busses,  cabs,  and 
other  public  conveyances,  with  which  its  use  is  con- 
fined to  the  driver)  ;  whilst  ride  means  to  be  carried 
upon  the  back  of  a  horse,  donkey,  &c.  Thus  :  "  I 
went  out  for  a  drive,"  would  not  necessarily  mean 
that  I  myself  held  the  reins.  The  American  use  of 
drive  and  ride  is,  however,  more  agreeable  to  reason 
and  authority. 

Evidence,  testimony. 

Evidence  is  that  which  produces  proof.  Testimony 
is  that  which  is  intended  to  produce  proof,  /.  e.,  the 
giving  of  what  may  be  evidence.  ["  Much  testimony 
was  taken,  but  really  there  was  little  evidence  of 
even  the  commission  of  the  crime."] 

Epidemic,  endemic. 

Epidemic  is  a  disease  brought  upon  or  into  a  com- 
munity from  some  outside  quarter.  It  is  therefore 
unnatural  to  the  locality.  Endemic  is  a  disease 
natural  to  the  community  or  locality.  ["Yellow- 
fever,  which  is  epidemic  at  New  York,  is  endemic 
in  Cuba."] 


64     WORDS  OFTEN  CONFUSED,  SYNONYMS,  OPPOSITES. 

Expense,  cost ;  expensive,  costly. 

Expense  and  expensive  refer  to  the  purchaser  ;  cost 
and  costly,  to  the  thing  purchased.  ["  That  vase  is 
not  too  costly — for  it  is  very  valuable ;  but  it  is  too 
expensive  for  my  limited  means."] 

Effect^  consequence,  result. 

The  effect  is  that  which  immediately  follows  the 
cause.  Then  comes  the  consequence,  and  after  that 
the  result.  ["The  effect  of  wearing  clothes  is 
warmth ;  the  conseqnence  is  the  wearing  out  of  the 
clothes  ;  the  result  is  the  purchase  of  new  clothes."] 

Eternal,  everlasting1. 

Eternal :  having  neither  begining  nor  end ;  ever- 
lasting :  having  beginning,  but  no  end.  ["  Eternal 
Father,  strong  to  save."  "  The  everlasting  hills."] 

Etc.  \etceterd\,  and  so  forth. 

Etc.  means,  "and  others  of  a  different  kind."  And 
so  forth  means,  "  and  others  of  the  same  kind,"  "  in 
the  same  strain,"  "  and  the  like."  ["  He  has  sold  his 
horses,  cows,  sheep,  &c."  "  The  result  is  a  train  of 
coughs,  colds,  consumption,  and  so  forth."]  In  dig- 
nified composition  the  use  of  these  expressions  is 
to  be  avoided  as  much  as  possible.  It  is  incorrect 
to  use  etc.,  &c.,  and  so  forth,  in  instances  like  the 
following :  "  Employ  some  such  word  as  mountain, 
hill,"  &c.  {Some  such  renders  &c.  superfluous  ] 

Ferment,  foment. 

Ferment  is  to  produce  alcohol  by  fermentation. 
Hence  ferment  is  sometimes  used  figuratively  with 
the  intransitive  force  of  "  to  be  in  an  excited  state." 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  65 

Foment  is  to  apply  lotions  to  ;  hence,  figurativly,  to 
animate  or  ,  stir  up.  ["  The  revolutionary  ingre- 
dients seemed  to  be  fermenting  ;  the  leaven  of  social- 
ism seemed  to  be  working."  "He  fomented  the 
disturbance  by  appeals  to  the  people."] 

Faultless,  blameless. 

Faultless  is,  free  from  defects  as  well  as  from  evil  or 
wickedness.  Blameless  is,  free  from  evil  or  wicked- 
ness alone.  ["  His  course  of  life  was  blameless, 
although  he  made  many  errors  in  business  matters." 
"  His  playing  was  faultless."] 

Falsehood,  falsity. 

A  falsehoodis  a  false  or  incorrect  proposition.  Fal- 
sity is  the  falseness  or  incorrectness  of  the  proposi- 
tion, apart  from  the  proposition  itself.  ["  That 
statement  is  a  falsehood.  The  falsity  of  the  asser- 
tions contained  therein  is  obvious."] 

Farther,  further. 

Farther  is  used  of  rest ;  further,  of  motion.  In  a 
secondary  sense  further  is  generally  preferred. 
[u  Montreal  is  farther  away  than  Toronto."  "  I  throw 
the  ball  further  than  you."  "  To  speak  further  is 
superfluous."] 

Goodness,  virtue. 

Goodness  is  innate  ;  virtue,  acquired.  ["  His  good- 
ness of  heart  prompted  the  savage  to  give  us  food.1' 
"  His  virtue  was  of  slow  growth  :  at  first  he  was  a 
most  degraded  man."] 

However,  but,  yet,  still,  notwithstanding,  nevertheless,  in 
spite  of.  These  words  are  in  their  proper  gradation 
from  weak  to  strong. 


66  WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOS1TES. 

Hidden,  concealed,  secret. 

Hidden  and  concealed  imply  intention  ;  secret  does 
not  ["  Hidden  here,  concealed  there,  the  officers 
found  the  stolen  goods."  "Deep  in  the  earth  he 
found  the  secret  ore."J 

Haste,  hurry. 

Haste  is  quickness.  Hurry  is  quickness  accom- 
panied with  confusion  or  flurry.  ["  We  are  often  in 
haste ;  we  ought  never  to  be  in  a  hurry."] 

Hindrance,  obstacle,  inpediment. 

A  hindrance  stops  us  at  the  beginning ;  an  obstacle,  in 
the  middle ;  an  inpediment  retards  us  all  the  time, 
["  Our  journey  was  very  unfortunate.  The  entrance 
of  a  visitor  was  a  hindrance  to  our  departure  ;  about 
a  mile  from  the  house  we  found  in  the  road  an  ob- 
stacle in  the  shape  of  a  fallen  tree  ;  whilst  the  mass 
of  baggage  we  carried  was  a  serious  inpediment  to 
our  progress."] 

Informed,  instructed,  taught. 

One  who  is  informed  knows  something  new ;  one 
who  is  instructed  understands  something  new ;  one 
who  is  taught  can  do  something  new.  ["  He  was 
informed  of  the  death  of  his  father."  "  He  was 
instructed  in  matters  of  trade."  "  He  was  taught 
how  to  make  sword-blades."] 

To  take  issue,  to  join  issue. 

To  take  issue  is  to  object  to  the  right  of  denial.  To 
join  issue  is  to  admit  the  right  of  denial,  but  to  dis- 
agree as  to  facts.  Join  issue  should,  of  course,  never 
be  used  for  agree.  ["  He  wanted  to  argue  with  me; 
but  I  at  once  took  issue  with  him,  alleging  that  his 


WORDS   OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  67 

position  in  the  matter  precluded  any  argument." 
u  He  said  yes ;  I  said  no.  Upon  this  we  joined 
issue."] 

Indecent^  immodest. 

Indecent  is  used  of  the  person  ;  immodest,  of  the  con- 
duct or  disposition.  ["The  wearing  of  such  clothes 
was  simply  indecent"  "His  general  behaviour  was 
quite  immodest."] 

Instant,  moment. 

An  instant  is  shorter  than  a  moment.  ["  In  a  few 
moments — nay,  in  a  single  instant — we  may  be 
ushered  into  eternity."] 

Industrious,  diligent ;  industry,  diligence. 

Diligent  and  diligence  express  the  idea  of  thoroughly 
doing  whatever  is  at  hand.  Industrious  and  industry 
express  the  same  idea,  and,  in  addition,  imply  a 
readiness  or  watchfulness  for  work.  ["  He  performed 
his  task  with  diligence — just  as  a  well-trained  horse 
does.  He  lacked,  however,  those  habits  of  industry 
and  thrift  which  raised  his  brother  to  wealth."] 

Import,  meaning,  sense. 

Import  is  the  idea  most  readily  conveyed.  Meaning 
is  the  idea  intended  to  be  conveyed.  Sense  is  the 
way  in  which  the  expression  may  be  taken,  or  its 
general  substance  or  spirit.  ["  He  says  the  mean- 
ing is  so  and  so.  His  words  may  have  that  sense, 
but  it  is  not  their  obvious  import"] 

Illusion,  delusion. 

Illusion  is  the  imagining  to  be  existent  of  something 
non-existent  Delusion  is  an  incorrect  idea  about 


68  WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

something  really  existent.  ["  His  chief  illusion  was 
that  there  were  wild  beasts  in  the  room."  "  The 
delusion  under  which  he  labored  was  that  paper 
currency  is  real  money,  instead  of  its  representa- 
tive."] 

In-,  tin-  [prefixes]. 

In-  is  the  ordinary  negative  prefix  to  be  used  with 
nouns  and  adjectives  of  Latin  origin.  Un-  is  the 
negative  prefix  to  be  used :  (i)  with  words  of 
Anglo-Saxon  origin;  (2)  with  verbs  of  Latin  origin. 
[Thus:  inhospitable,  ingratitude;  unclean,  unauthor- 
ized^ There  are,  however,  many  exceptions;  e.g. : 
uncomfortable,  incapacitate. 

Inexorable,  inflexible. 

Inexorable  is,  not  to  be  prevailed  upon  by  entreaty ; 
inflexible,  not  to  be  bent  at  all.  Inflexible  is  there- 
fore the  stronger  of  the  two.  ["We  tried  entreaties, 
but  he  was  inexorable.  Afterwards,  we  tried  money 
and  threats ;  but  he  was  still  inflexible."] 

Jar,  pitcher,  jug.  1 

A  jar  is  a  wide-mouthed  vessel  without  a  handle 
["  A  jar  of  jam"].  A  pitcher  is  a  wide-mouthed 
vessel  with  a  protruding  lip  and  a  large  ear  or 
handle.  ["  Please  pass  the  milk-pitcher."]  A  jug 
is  a  small-mouthed  vessel  with  a  swelling  body  and 
a  small  ear  or  handle  near  the  mouth.  ["  He  brought 
a  large  jug  of  beer."] 

Low-priced,  cheap. 

Low-priced  is  that  for  which  little  has  been  paid. 
The  thing  may  however,  really  be  dear.  Cheap 
is  that  the  price  of  which  is  low,  its  intrinsic 


WOHDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  69 

worth  being  considered.  ["  The  watch  was  by 
no  means  low-priced  ;  it  cost,  in  fact,  one  hundred 
pounds;  still,  it  was  cheap  at  that  sum,  for  its  action 
was  perfect."] 

Lazy,  idle,  slothful. 

Lazy  describes  the  general  disposition,  and  is  the 
opposite  to  alert  or  industrious.  Idle  refers  to  a 
particular  time,  place  or  matter,  and  is  the  opposite 
to  busy  or  occupied.  Slothful  or  indolent  implies  a 
hatred  of  exertion  and  a  general  slowness  or  languor. 
The  opposite  to  slothfulness  or  indolence  is  activity. 
["  The  boy  was  thoroughly  lazy :  he  would  neither 
work  nor  play."  "  After  a  hard  day's  work,  he  was 
now  enjoying  a  few  minutes  of  idle  repose."  "  Be 
not  slothful  in  business."] 

Laudable,  praiseworthy. 

Laudable  is  used  of  things;  praiseworthy,  of  persons. 
["It  is  a  most  laudable  endeavour."  "He  is  a  praise- 
worthy man."] 

Last,  latest. 

Last  is  used  of  place  or  order;  latest,  of  time.  ["His 
name  was  last  on  the  list."  "  He  was  the  latest 
to  arrive/']  Late  is  often  employed  incorrectly  for 
last.  E.g. :  "  The  late  [last]  speaker. 

Leave,  quit. 

Leave  generally  implies  a  return.  Quit  generally 
implies  no  return.  ["He  left  me  for  a  moment." 
"  He  quitted  me  for  ever."] 

Malice,  spite. 

Malice  is  used  of  conduct  in  general ;  spite,  of  in- 
dividual acts.  ["  He  followed  him  for  years  with 


70  WORDS    OFTEN   CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

untiring  malice."  "On  this  occasion  he  certainly 
shewed  spite  towards  his  opponent/'] 

Marital,  matrimonial. 

Marital  means,  pertaining  to  a  husband  ;  matri- 
monial, pertaining  to  marriage.  ["  His  marital  rights 
were  disregarded."  "  Matrimonial  alliances  between 
crowned  heads  are  often  matters  of  policy."] 

Mistake,  error. 

A  mistake  is  not  necessarily  blameworthy.  An  error 
is  blameworthy.  ["  That  was  a  fortunate  mistake." 
"  It  was  a  downright  error  on  his  part ;  for  he  had 
been  warned  again  and  again."] 

Mute,  dumb. 

Mute  is  used  of  one  who  can  speak,  but  who,  through 
compulsion  or  otherwise,  will  not.  Dumb  is  used 
of  one  who  cannot  speak.  So,  the  expression,  a 
deaf-mute,  should  be,  a  deaf  and  dumb  person.  ["  He 
was  mute,  in  spite  of  all  their  threats :  he  would  not 
betray  his  friends."  "  He  was  dumb,  having  ut- 
tered no  articulate  sound  in  his  whole  life."] 

Merely,  simply. 

Merely  implies  no  addition ;  simply,  no  admixture. 
["  They  were  there  merely  to  prevent  bloodshed." 
"  It  was  simply  incredible  that  he  should  have  so 
acted."] 

Nearly,  entirely,  scarcely  ;  almost,  completely,  hardly. 

Nearly,  entirely,  scarcely,  are  applied  to  quantity, 
time  or  space ;  almost,  completely,  hardly,  generally 
to  degree.  ["  It  is  nearly  a  mile  from  here."  "  The 
apple  is  hardly  ripe."  '*  He  is  almost  dead."] 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITE^.  71 

Neglectful^  negligent. 

Neglectful  refers  to  an  individual  act.  Negligent^  to 
a  series  of  acts  that  have  produced  a  habit  ["  To 
forget  that  book  was  very  neglectful."  Ke  was  all 
his  life  a  most  negligent  man."] 

Owing,  due, 

Due  is  used  of  debts.  Owing  calls  attention  to  the 
source  or  origin  whence  something  springs.  The 
present  participle  [owing']  of  the  intransitive  verb 
to  owe  has  taken  the  place  of  the  past  participle 
[owed]  of  the  transitive  verb  to  owe.  ["  A  large  sum 
was  due  him."  u  It  was  owing  to  the  Crusades 
that  many  oriental  ideas  and  inventions  were  intro- 
duced into  the  West."] 

Qn>  upon. 

Upon  is  stronger  than  on,  and  should  be  employed 
when  particular  attention  is  to  be  drawn  to  the  sup- 
port, whether  literal  or  figurative.  With  verbs  of 
motion,  also,  upon  is  generally  preferable.  ["  The 
book  is  on  the  table."  "  He  lifted  the  large  box, 
and  put  it  upon  the  table."  "  Upon  truth  and  right- 
eousness, upon  honour  and  justice,  must  rest  the 
foundations  of  every  state."] 

Perspicacity,  perspicuity  ;  perspicacious,  perspicuous. 

Perspicacity  and  perspicacious  express  the  power  of 
of  seeing  clearly.  Perspicuity  and  perspicuous  ex- 
press the  quality  of  clearness.  The  former  two  are 
active  in  their  meaning,  the  latter  two  passive.  The 
ending  -city,  here  as  elsewhere,  denotes  the  power 
or  ability  to  do  something;  e.g.:  veracity  is  the 
quality  of  speaking  the  truth,  not  truth  itself.  ["  I 


72  WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITE3. 

admire  the  perspicuity  of  his  explanations."  "  He  is 
a  most  perspicacious  man  :  nothing  escapes  his  eye."] 
In  many  cases,  clear-sightedness ',  clear-sighted,  clear- 
ness, clear,  are  greatly  preferable  to  perspicacity  and 
the  rest 

Perpetually,  continually  ;  perpetual,  continual. 

Perpetually  is  an  exact  synonym  of  continuously,  and 
means,  therefore,  never-ceasing.  Continual  implies 
interruptions,  and  is  equivalent  to  constantly  re- 
newed. ["  The  perpetual  flow  of  the  river."  "  The 
continual  roar  of  the  mill,  ceasing  only  for  a  short 
time  at  night."] 

Proclaim,  announce. 

One  proclaims  opinions,  sentiments,  and  so  forth. 
One  announces  news,  tidings,  and  so  on.  ["  He 
proclaimed  to  the  vast  throng  the  revolutionary  doc- 
trines of  socialism."  "  The  messenger  announced 
that  the  battle  was  lost."] 

Purpose,  intent  or  intention. 

Purpose  generally  implies  the  employment  of  means 
to  accomplish  the  end.  Intent  and  intention  may 
exist  without  the  employment  of  means.  ["  His 
intention  was  to  do  wonders  ;  but  he  never  did  any- 
thing at  all."  "  His  practical  purpose  soon  found 
ways  and  means  to  accomplish  what  he  wished."] 

Poverty,  indigence,  pauperism. 

Poverty  means  straitened  circumstances,  one's  posi* 
tion  in  life  being  considered.  Indigence  is  absolute 
destitution.  Pauperism  implies  the  receiving  of  pub- 
lic relief.  ["  The  duke  was  in  poverty,  although  he 


WORDS    OFTEN   CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  73 

had  ;£  1,000  a  year.  But  what  is  that  for  the  ex- 
penses of  a  duke  ?"  "  I  found  them  in  the  greatest 
indigence — without  any  fuel,  and  with  but  a  mouth- 
ful of  bread."  "Legalized  pauperism  kills  indi- 
vidual effort."] 

Reticent,  reticence ;  reserved,  reserve. 

Reticence  and  reticent  are  confined  to  habitual  quiet 
or  caution.  Reserve  and  reserved  may  refer  to  tem- 
porary quiet  or  caution.  ["He  a  very  reticent  man: 
during  our  whole  acquaintance  with  him  I  have 
never  heard  him  make  a  speech."  "  I  questioned 
him  upon  that  point,  but  he  kcot  a  careful  re- 
serve/'] 

Reverse  and  converse. 

Reverse  is  the  opposite  or  antithesis.  Converse  is 
"  an  opposite  reciprocal  proposition."  In  the  con- 
verse, therefore,  the  cause  becomes  the  effect,  the 
condition  becomes  the  result.  ["  Minus  is  the  re- 
verse of  plus."  "  If  the  sides  of  two  triangles  are 
respectively  equal,  the  angles  will  be  equal.  But 
the  converse  is  not  true;  for  the  angles  may  be  equal, 
and  the  sides  unequal."] 

Recompense,  reward,  meed. 

Recompense  is  a  fair  compensation.  Reward  is  any 
present  or  gift.  Meed  is  something  earned  by  one's 
own  toil.  ["  The  recompense  for  the  loss  of  his  arm 
at  the  Alma  was  not  too  great."  "  He  rewarded 
me  munificently — indeed,  far  above  my  deserts" 
"  He  alone  who  fights  and  labours,  wins  the  glori- 
ous meed."] 


74  WORDS   OFTEN   CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

Robbery,  theft. 

Robbery  is  stealing  with  violence ;  theft,  generally 
without.  ["After  a  hard  struggle,  he  robbed  the 
traveller  of  his  watch."  "  I  had  not  noticed  the 
theft,  it  was  committed  so  quietly."] 

Remember,  recollect. 

Remember  is  to  gather  materials  ready  at  hand  ; 
recollect,  to  gather  materials  not  ready  at  hand. 
["  I  do  not  remember,  but  I  will  try  to  recollect."] 

Religion,  piety. 

Religion  is  a  form  of  belief  or  worship.  Piety  is 
reverence  for  what  is  good,  and  the  desire  to  do 
good.  It  includes,  therefore,  love,  charity  and  such 
like.  [" There  are  many  religions;  there  is  but  one 
piety."] 

Relieve,  alleviate,  mitigate. 

Relieve  is  to  remove  pain  entirely.  Alleviate  or 
mitigate  is  to  remove  it  but  partially.  Alleviate 
is  used  generally  of  others,  mitigate  of  ourselves. 
["  At  his  touch  the  pain  was  instantly  relieved." 
"  I  alleviated  his  sufferings  through  the  application 
of  a  lotion."  "  My  anguish  was  somewhat  miti- 
gated."] 

Recant,  abjure. 

Recant  generally  implies  the  use  of  force ;  abjure 
generally  does  not.  ["  Unable  to  bear  the  torture, 
he  recanted."  "I  freely  abjure  all  part  in  the 
plot."] 

Rend,  tear. 

Rend  implies  purpose;  tear  may  or  may  not  do  so. 
Rend  generally  carries  with  it  the  idea  of  splitting 


WORDS   OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  75 

or  dividing.  Such  idea  is  not  necessarily  implied 
in  tear.  [u  He  unfortunately  tore  his  coat."  "  He 
tore  his  hair."  "  He  rent  his  garment."] 

Sewerage,  sewage. 

Sewerage:  a  system  of  drainage  or  the  science  of 
drainage.  It  is  but  rarely  used  for  sewage.  Seivage: 
sometimes  the  same  as  sewerage,  but  generally  the 
matter  flowing  through  the  drains.  ["  How  many 
books  have  been  written  on  sewerage  !"  "  The  sew- 
age from  the  city  pollutes  the  river."] 

Spontaneous,  voluntary. 

Spontaneous  should  be  confined  to  things;  voluntary, 
to  persons.  ["  It  was  an  instance  of  spontaneous 
combustion."  "The  action  was  voluntary  on  his 
part."] 

Sociable,  social. 

Sociable  expresses  a  readiness  for  companionship. 
Social  refers  to  the  relations  that  men  in  an  organ- 
ized society  bear,  one  to  another.  ["  He  is  a  very 
sociable  man."  "  Have  you  read  the  great  works 
on  social  science  and  social  progress  ?"]  Sociable 
is,  therefore,  the  correct  form  of  the  noun.  ["  The 
sociable  was  successful."] 

Satisfied,  contented. 

Satisfied  is  stronger  than  contented,  and  means  that 
all  our  desires  are  gratified.  Satisfaction  is  posi- 
tive pleasure,  and  comes  from  the  outside.  Con- 
tentment is  the  absence  of  pain,  and  lies  in  our- 
selves. Satisfaction  is  less  lasting  than  contentment. 
["The  industrious  and  intelligent  artisan  may,  for  a 


76  WORDS    OFTEN   CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

time,  remain  contented  ;  but  he  is  certainly  far  from 
satisfied  with  his  lot."] 

Sufficient,  enough. 

One  has  enough  when  one's  desires  are  satisfied; 
sufficient,  when  one's  needs  are  satisfied.  ["  Do  not 
let  the  horse  eat  as  much  as  he  will.  Give  him 
just  sufficient/'  "  He  was  rich  ;  but,  like  all  other 
misers,  he  never  had  enough."] 

Strong^  powerful. 

Strong:  of  sound  constitution,  able  to  stand  hard 
work.  Powerful;  able  to  lift  heavy  weights,  to 
strike  heavy  blows,  &c.  ["  He  made  a  gallant  fight 
against  disease ;  for  he  was  a  very  strong  man." 
"  Strange  to  say,  he  was  a  very  powerful  man,  able 
to  give  tremendous  blows;  and  yet,  his  constitution 
was  undermined  through  dissipation."]  Muscular 
is  a  very  effective  word. 

Stub'  or n,  obstinate. 

Stubborn :  opposed  to  the  way  of  others  ;  obstinate: 
set  in  one's  own  way.  ["  I  tried  to  induce  him  to 
approve  my  scheme ;  but,  although  he  had  none  of 
his  own  to  offer,  yet  he  was  stubborn  and  refused." 
"He  wished  to  go  his  own  way,  and  was  very 
obstinate  about  the  matter."] 

Safety,  security. 

Safety:  freedom  from  danger.  Security:  freedom 
from  care.  Security  may,  therefore,  be  real  or 
fancied.  ["  He  relied  with  the  greatest  security 
upon  his  followers ;  but,  really,  he  was  far  from 
being  in  a  position  of  safety."] 


WORDS   OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES.  77 

Subdue,  subjugate. 

Subdue  is  to  conquer  so  thoroughly  that  resistance 
ceases.  Subjugate  is  to  conquer  and  then  to  impose 
restraints,  generally  repeated  and  severe.  Subju- 
gate, moreover,  is  used  chiefly  in  a  literal  sense,  i.  e., 
with  reference  to  nations;  subdue  is  frequently  used 
in  a  figurative  sense,  i.  e.,  with  reference  to  the  mind 
or  the  moral  nature.  ["  England  subdued,  but  did 
not  subjugate  Russia."  "The  Poles  have  been 
subjugated  ;  but  their  spirits  are  yet  unsubdued."] 

Source,  origin. 

Source  implies  that  the  supply  is  continuous ;  origin, 
that  it  has  ceased.  ["This  was  the  origin  of  the 
friendship,  which  was  a  source  of  such  joy."] 

Tongue,  language. 

Tongue  is  generally  an  original  form  of  speech; 
language,  a  derived  form.  ["  The  Latin  is  one  of 
the  tongues  from  which  so  many  languages  have 
sprung."]  Language  may,  of  course,  be  used  of  inar- 
ticulate speech  ["  The  language  of  birds  "],  where 
tongue  would  be  incorrect. 

Transitory,  transient  or  fleeting. 

Transitory  is  liable  to  pass  away.  Transient  or 
fleeting  is  actually  passing  away.  Transitory  is 
abstract ;  transient  and  fleeting  are  concrete,  as  well 
as  abstract.  Fleeting  is  preferable  to  transient. 
["  Earth's  joys  are  transitory :  in  a  moment  they 
may  pass  away."  "  Life  is  fleeting  as  a  shadow  : 
the  transient  moments  can  never  be  recalled."] 

Trivial,  trifling. 

Trivial  generally  has  a  tinge  of  contempt ;  trifling 


78  WORDS   OFTEN   CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OPPOSITES. 

generally  not.  ["That  is  the  most  absurd  and 
trivial  matter  in  the  world."  "  The  greater  part  of 
our  time  ought  to  be  occupied  with  serious  matters  ; 
the  rest  may  be  occupied  with  amusements  and 
other  rather  trifling  matters."] 

Talkative,  loquacious. 

Talkative  implies  a  desire  to  speak,  accompanied 
or  not  with  readiness  of  speech.  Loquacious  implies 
a  desire  to  speak,  accompanied  with  a  readiness  of 
speech.  ["The  little  child  was  very  talkative." 
"  Unlike  most  loquacious  men,  he  was  very  instruc- 
tive in  his  long  harangues."] 

Voluntary,  willing. 

Voluntary  is  with  seeming  readiness  or  acquiescence ; 
ivilling,  with  real  readiness  or  acquiescence.  ["  He 
went  voluntarily:  no  compulsion  was  used;  but  still, 
he  looked  as  if  he  did  not  like  to  go."  "  He  was 
ready — yes,  more  than  ready — willing,  to  die."] 

Vulgar,  immodest ;  vulgarity,  immodesty. 

Only  what  is  metaphorically  low  is  vulgar.  Vul- 
garity, moreover,  generally  implies  pretension  to  re- 
finement along  with  lowness  of  disposition.  ["That 
was  a  most  immodest  act."  "  His  general  bearing 
was  very  vulgar."  "The  old-fashioned  English 
squire — coarse  as  he  was — was  not  vulgar,  was  not 
given  to  cheap  display  and  pretence."] 

Whole,  entire. 

Whole:  that  from  which  nothing  has  been  taken, 
The  whole  and  all  the  are  usually  interchangeable. 
Entire:  that  which  is  undivided.  ["The  whole 
town  was  burned :  not  a  single  house  escaped." 


WORDS    OFTEN    CONFUSED,    SYNONYMS,    OFPOSITES.  79 

"  That  congregation,  at  any  rate,  was  entire  in  its 
vote:  there  were  no  divisions  among  its  members."] 

Wit>  humor. 

Wit  is  the  effect  of  unexpected  fitness  or  congruity. 
Humor  is  the  effect  of  unexpected  unfitness  or  in- 
congruity. Again,  humor  is  not,  as  wit  is,  sudden 
and  shoit-lived;  it  extends  very  often  through  a 
whole  book  or  speech.  ["  Humor  is  all.  Wit  should 
be  brought  only  to  turn  agreeably  some  proper 
thought"  "  He  made  a  very  witty  pun,  and  wrote 
more  than  one  humorous  chapter."] 

World,  earth,  globe. 

World  is  our  planet  viewed  from  the  "  moral  or 
abstract  point  of  view."  The  world  refers,  therefore, 
almost  always  to  its  inhabitants.  Earth  is  our 
planet  with  reference  to  its  external  or  material 
formation  or  aspect.  Globe  is  our  planet  in  a  geo- 
logical sense  chiefly.  Globe  is  often  used  in  poetry 
for  world  or  earth.  ["  The  bodies  revolving  round 
the  sun  are  the  following :  Mercury,  Venus,  Earth, 
Mars,"  &c.  "  When  we  look  abroad  upon  the  world 
and  see  its  wickedness,  we  are  lost  in  wonder  at 
man's  depravity."  "  Who  can  say  how  many  ages 
have  been  required  for  the  formation  of  the  crust  of 
the  globe !"] 

Wholly^  totally  [with  expressions  denoting  deprivation 
or  loss]. 

Wholly  lays  stress  upon  the  condition  of  the  person 
deprived ;  totally,  upon  the  thing  of  which  he  has 
been  deprived.  ["  He  is  wholly  blind."  "  His  sight 
is  totally  gone."] 


80  PREFER. 

PKEFEft. 

Prefer: 

Approve  to  approve  of.    ["To  shew  thyself  approved 

unto  God."] 

Agriculturist  to  agriculturalist. 
Aside   to  apart.     ["  He   took   me  aside."]     Apart 

means  to  pieces,  as,  "He  took  the  clock  apart" 
Alone  to  only,  as  much  as  possible. 
Arise  to  rise,  in  a  figurative  or  secondary  sense. 

["  Greece  arose  from  her  ashes."] 
Advance  to  progress   [as  verb].      Progress  is  not 

properly  formed  from  the  Latin  root. 
Acquaintanceship  to  acquaintance,  as  an  abstract 

noun.      Reserve   acquaintance  for   persons   or 

things  one  is  acquainted  with. 

Begin  to  initiate.  Initiate  may  very  properly  be 
used  in  the  sense  of,  to  induct  into  a  position 
or  introduce  to  a  society. 

Begin  to  commence. 

Become  to  grow,  denoting  a  change  of  condition. 
["  He  becomes  rich  and  wise."] 

Believe  to  think.     ["  I  believe  it  is  so."] 

Body  [dead],  or  corpse,  to  the  remains, 

Buy  to  purchase. 

% 

Coffin  to  casket. 

Cannot  but  to  can  but.  ["I  cannot  but  tell  what  I 
know."]  There  is  an  ellipsis  in  all  such  expres- 
sions: "I  cannot  do  anything  but  (Y. e.y  except) 
tell  what "  &c. 


PREFER.  81 

Prefer: 

Come  into  collision  to  collide. 

Correct  or  in  the  right  to  right,  when  correctness, 

and  not  uprightness,  is  meant     E.g. :  "  I  am 

correct  in  my  statistics." 

Converser  or  conversationist  to  conversationalist. 
Controverter,  or  controvcrsionist,  to  controversion- 

alist. 

Church  to  sanctuary. 
Contend  against,   oppose,  be  at  variance  with,  to 

militate  against. 
Corpulent,  heavy,  fat,  to  fleshy  [of  persons]. 

Deadly  to  lethal. 
Dwell,  or  live,  to  reside. 

Exponental  to  exponential. 

Earthen,  golden,  &c,  to  earth,  gold,  &c.  [as  adjec- 
tives].    E.g. :  "An  earthen  jar." 
Enlarge  on  [or,  upon]  to  dilate  on  [or,  upon]. 

Foregoing  to  above,  as  an  adjective.  ["  The  fore- 
going statement  is  correct."] 

Factory  to  manufactory. 

Forbid  to  prohibit. 

Forward,  backward,  toward,  &c.,  to  forwards,  back- 
wards, towards,  &c. 

0 

Graceful  to  elegant,  when  speaking  of  the  body  and 
its  movements. 

Hebrew  to  Jew,  when  speaking  of  race. 
House  to  residence. 


82  PREFER. 

Prefer  : 

Incorrect,  or  in  the  wrong,  to  wrong,  when  incorrect- 
ness, and  not  unrighteousness,  is  meant 

Iced-water,  iced-cream,  &c.,  to  ice-water,  ice-cream, 

&c, 
Inform  to  advise    [in   letters   &c.]     Advise   has   a 

double  meaning  ;  inform  has  not. 

Kinsman,  kinswoman,  to  relative,  relation. 

Last  two  weeks,  last  six  months,  &c.,  to  past  two 

weeks,  past  six  months,  &c. 
Lenity,  or  lenience,  to  leniency. 
Loose  to  unloose. 
Land  to  real  estate. 
Leading  article,  or  leader,  to  editorial. 
Lengthwise,  sidewise,  &c.,  to  lengthways,  sideways, 

&c. 

The  morrow  to  to-morrow  [as  noun].     E.g.  :  "The 

morrow  will  suit  me." 
The  months  by  name  to  ult,  prox.,  inst. 

Much  to  a  great  deal. 

Muscular  to  stout.     [Stout  is  somewhat  ambiguous, 
meaning  both  strong-  and  corpulent] 

One  to  [or,  with]  another  to  among  themselves. 

E.g.:    "They   divided   the   money  one   with 

another." 
Oneself  to  one's  self. 


PREFER.  83 

Prefer  : 

Oversee  to  supervise. 

Offensive  to  obnoxious. 

Ordinal  numbers  to  cardinal  numbers  in  the  head- 
ing of  letters.  Write  March  s^th,  or  March 
the  24-th,  rather  than  March  24. 

Rich  to  wealthy. 
Railway  to  railroad. 

Seeming  to  apparent. 
Self-same  to  identical. 

Say  to  remark,   or  observe.     \To  remark  and  to 

observe  mean  to  notice.] 
Station  to  depot  [or  d£p6t], 
Sympathy  to  pity,  when  speaking  of  or  to  equals. 

*r 

Truthfulness  to  veracity.     [  Veracity  should  be  used 

of  persons  only.] 
Tangental  to  tangential. 
Thus  to  so.     ["  He  does  it  thus!"} 

Unexpressed  to  understood.  [  Understood  has  two 
meanings.] 

Violoncello  to  violincello.  [The  instrument  is  a 
large,  not  a  small,  violin.] 

Various,  or  diverse,  to  different.  [Different  should 
be  confined  to  the  meaning  of  differing  from.} 

Vacant  to  empty,  of  buildings  no  longer  inhabited. 


84  OBJECTIONABLE    WORDS   AND    PHRASES. 

Prefer : 

Wast  to  wert,  in  the  second  person  singular,  past 
indicative.  \Wert  is  the  subjunctive,  but  it  is 
not  incorrect  in  the  indicative.] 

Would  rather,  or  should  rather,  to  had  rather.  [Had 
rather  is  not  incorrect,  but  would  rather  or 
should  rather  is  preferable.  All  these  forms 
ought  to  be  used  as  little  as  possible.  Choose 
some  other  expression.] 

With  reference  to  to  in  reference  to.  [We  never 
say,  out  of  reference  to,  but  always,  without 
reference  /#.] 

In  general,  prefer  short  words  and  phrases  to  long 
words  and  phrases,  and  words  of  Anglo-Saxon, 
to  those  of  non- Anglo-Saxon,  origin. 


OBJECTIONABLE  WORDS  AND  PHRASES. 

A  day  or  two,  a  man  or  two,  &c.  [Say,  two  or  three 
days,  a  few  days  ;  tzvo  or  three  men,  a  few  men ;  &c. 
There  is  lack  of  agreement  in  a  day  or  tivo,  a  man 
or  two.  A  somewhat  similar  error  occurs  in,  "With 
this,  as  with  many  other  matters."  The  expression 
should  be :  "  With  this,  as  with  many  another  mat- 
ter."] 

Authoress,  poetess,  &c.  [Such  words  may  be  used  if 
the  gender  is  to  be  pointed  out.  Otherwise,  the 
ordinary  forms — autlior>  poet>  &c. — are  sufficient] 

Anyhow,  anyway. 


OBJECTIONABLE    WORDS   AND    PHRASES.  85 

Accountable,  unaccountable. 
Answerable,  unanswerable. 
Antagonize. 

Aborigene  [in  the  singular]. 

A  bit  [at  all,  a  little;  as  :  "  I  am  a  bit  tired  "],  not  a  bit 
[not  at  alt\ 

Confirmed  invalid. 

Cablegram.     [Use  telegram  or  telegraphic  message.] 


Down  East,  down  South.     [Say  :   "  I  am  going 

South."     "I  live  in  the  East."     "He  practised  at 

the  South."] 

Desirability  and  undesirability. 
Direful.     [This  word  is  not  properly  formed,  as  dire  is 

not  a  noun.] 
Defalcate  and    defalcation    [in   the    sense   of    making 

default].    Defalcate,  correctly  used,  is  to  cut  off  or 

lop  off. 

Desiderate  [for  desire}. 
Deceased  [for  ike  late,  the  dead  one,  &c.],  except  in  legal 

and  other  formal  expressions. 

Every  once  in  a  while.     [Say,  once  in  a  while,  sometimes, 

frequently] 
Electropathy,  hydropathy,  &c.     [Pathein  is,  to  suffer  ; 

not,  to  cure.] 
Effectuate. 
Enjoy  oneself.     [Say,   "  I  enjoyed   the   concert  ;"  not, 

"  I  enjoyed  myself  at  the  concert"] 
Eventuate. 


86  OBJECTIONABLE   WORDS   AND   PHRASES. 

Environment     [Use  surroundings] 
Emasculate. 

Go  ahead. 

Help  [in  the  sense  of  to  avoid}.  Say :  "  I  cannot  avoid 
doing  so  ; "  not,  "  I  cannot  help  doing  so." 

Have  got  [for  have].  Get  is  generally  superfluous,  and 
should  be  used  as  little  as  possible. 

Impute.     [Use  ascribe] 
Ignore. 

Lose  oneself.     [Say,  "  He  was  lost — or  became  lost—or 

lost  his  way — in  the  wood."] 
Line  of  goods. 
Lots  [for  much  or  many]. 

Malaprop.  [Use  mal-^-propos ;  unsuitable,  unseasonable, 
or  the  corresponding  adverbs.] 

More  guilty,  most  guilty  ;  less  guilty,  least  guilty.  [One 
is  either  guilty  or  not  guilty,  of  a  crime  ;  although 
one  may  be  guilty  of  a  greater  or  a  less  crime.  A 
similar  remark  applies  to  guiltless  and  innocent. 
These  adjectives  should  properly  be  used  of  indivi- 
dual acts  only.] 

Necessitate. 

Opine. 

Out  West.      [Say :  "  He  goes  West  (or,  to  the  West)." 

"  I  live  in  the  West  (or,  at  the  West)."] 
Out  of  [for  of,  with  names  of  materials].     Say  :  "  The 

box  is  made  0/"[not,  out  of]  wood.'1 


OBJECTIONABLE   WORDS   AND    PHRASES.  87 

Ponder  over.     [U 'se  ponder  alone.] 

Practitioner.     [This  word  is  incorrectly  formed.] 

Presidential.  [The  adjective — if  formed  at  all — ought 
to  be  presidental.  Presidential  campaign  is  a  very 
inelegant  and  ill-constructed  expression. 

Proven  \_hr  proved].  Gotten  may  be  used  for  got ;  but 
nonproven  ion  proved. 

Particle  [a  little  or  somewhat],  not  a  particle  \_not  at  all]. 

Rostrum  [far platform, pulpit].     If  any  form  of  this  word 

is  to  be  used,  it  should  be  the  plural,  rostra. 
Rehabilitate  [for  reinstate]. 
Recuperate  [for  recover]. 
Right  off. 
Right  away. 

Reliable,  unreliable.     [Use  trustworthy,  untrustivorthy] 
Repudiate.     [Use  condemn  or  disoiun] 

Spread  [in  the  sense  of  meal,  feast,  banquet]. 
Suicide,  as  a  verb.     [Say,  commit  suicide.] 

Scientist.  [Use  scientific  man,  savant,  &c.  If  a  noun 
with  this  meaning  is  to  be  formed  from  science,  it 
ought  to  be  sciencist,  not  scientist^ 

Stump,  in  the  sense  of  platform ;  as :  "  lie  took  the 
stump." 

Seeming  paradox,  {k.  paradox  is  a  seeming  contradic- 
tion. Seeming  paradox  is,  therefore,  tautological.] 

Tiresome.  [Use  wearisome  or  tedious.  Tiresome  is  incor- 
rectly formed,  tire  not  being  a  noun.] 


88  OBJECTIONABLE   WORDS   AND    PHRASES. 

That  much,  that  little,  [for  so  much,  so  little,  or  as  much 
as  that,  as  little  as  that]. 

Up  North.  [Say  :  "  I  live  at  (or  in)  the  North."  "  He 
goes  to  the  North/'] 

Voice  [as  a  verb].  Say :  "  He  expressed — or  gave  ex- 
pression to — the  sentiments  of  his  followers ;"  not, 
"  He  voiced,"  &c. 

Yours,  ours,  mine,  &c>,  [for  your,  our,  my,  &c.,  letter]. 
Say :  "  I  have  received  your  letter  of  yesterday ;" 
not,  "  I  have  received  yours  of  yesterday." 


NOTES  ON  PUNCTUATION. 

Use  a  comma  before  or  when  the  expressions  between 
which  it  occurs,  refer  to  the  same  person  or  thing. 
Thus:  "Jones  or  Smith  was  here"  [no  comma]; 
but :  "  Saul,  or  Paul "  [comma]. 

Put  a  comma  after  a  proposition  forming  the  subject  of 
a  verb.  So :  "  That  he  did  so,  is  not  clear." 

When  an  infinitive  is  the  subject  of  a  verb,  and  follows 
the  verb,  a  comma  is  generally  inserted  before  the 
infinitive.  This  is  especially  the  case  if  the  infini- 
tive or  the  verb  has  other  words  depending  upon 
it.  So  write  :  "  It  ill  becomes  great  and  good  men, 
to  smile  at  sin." 

Use  no  commas  after  short  and  closely-connected  adjec- 
tives  qualifying  the  same  noun.  Thus :  "  A  good 
old  sound  dry  wine." 


NOTES   ON    PUNCTUATION.  89 

Use  a  comma  before  a  quotation  closely  dependent  upon 
such  introductory  words  as  say,  tell^  cry.  E.  g. : 
"  The  man  said,  I  will  return."  [With  such  quota- 
tions— especially  if  short — the  quotation  marks  are 
generally  omitted.]  Before  a  direct  quotation,  /.  e., 
one  not  closely  dependent  upon  introductory  words 
(say,  will,  cry,  &c.),  insert  the  colon.  [When  the 
quotation  is  poetry,  a  dash  often  follows  the  colon, 
especially  if  a  space  is  left  at  the  end  of  the  line.] 

As  a  general  rule,  the  subject  of  a  verb  must  be  ex- 
pressed in  every  clause  preceded  by  a  semi-colon. 
If,  however,  there  are  several  clauses  or  phrases 
marked  off  by  semi-colons,  to  avoid  repetition  the 
subjects  may  be  omitted.  [The  subject  of  a  verb 
may,  of  course,  be  understood  before  a  comma.] 

A  short  and  serviceable  rule  for  the  use  of  the  comma  in 
relative  clauses,  and  in  participial,  adjectival  and 
adverbial  phrases,  is,  to  insert  it  when  the  clauses 
and  phrases  are  coordinate,  but  not  when  they  are 
restrictive.  E.  g. :  "  The  things  which  are  seen  are 
temporal."  "  He  was  a  man  known  in  three  con- 
tinents." [No  commas.]  "  The  king,  who  was  now 
old,  declared  for  war."  "  His  brother,  known  far 
and  wide,  was  present."  [Commas.]  Where  the 
subject  of  the  verb  is  a  phrase  greatly  lengthened 
by  adjuncts,  a  comma  will  be  required  before  the 
verb.  E.g. :  "  The  fact  of  his  having  acted  in  so 
strange  a  way,  warranted  his  detention." 

Use  a  semi-colon,  and  not  a  comma,  in  the  following 
cases : 


90  NOTES   ON   PUNCTUATION. 

<•' 

(i).  Before  reasons.  E.g.:  "Economy  is  no  dis- 
grace ;  for  it  "  &c.  * 

(2).  Between  two  opposing  clauses,  when  an  adver- 
sative conjunction  introduces  the  second  clause. 
E.  g. :  "  Straws  swim  at  the  surface ;  but  pearls 
sink  to  the  bottom." 

A  colon,  not  a  semi-colon,  should  be  used  when  the  clause 
or  phrase  that  follows  the  mark  expresses  a  result 
or  effect,  or  when  it  is  in  the  form  of  an  analogy,  or 
is  a  parallel  to  what  precedes.  "  He  lived  a  virtuous 
life :  he  died  a  happy  death."  "  The  flowers  bloom 
and  wither :  so  is  it  with  the  life  of  man."  The 
use  of  the  colon  before  a  quotation  or  a  list  is  an 
application  of  this  principle.  As  a  general  thing, 
therefore,  the  voice  should  be  kept  up  before  colons, 
and  let  fall  before  semi-colons. 

A  long  compound  or  complex  sentence,  the  various 
parts  of  which  are  divided  by  colons  or  semi-colons, 
may  be  separated  into  two  or  more  parts  by  pe- 
riods. The  second  part  will  begin  with  for,  there- 
fore, and,  as,  or  some  other  introductory  word. 
[This  dividing  up  of  long  sentences  must  be  spar- 
ingly practised.] 

Use  brackets,  and  not  parentheses,  when,  in  a  quotation, 
you  wish  to  insert  words  improperly  omitted  by  the 
author,  or  when  you  wish  to  explain  something,  or 
to  correct  an  error  in  your  own  writing.  [In  the 
last  two  cases  parentheses  may  be  employed,  but 
brackets  are  preferable.]  So  :  "  The  man  [Mr.  Jones] 
was  very  rich."  [When  brackets  are  thus  used  in 


NOTES  ON   PUNCTUATION.  91 

a  quotation,  additional  quotation  marks  are  not  re- 
quired after  the  word  preceding,  and  before  the 
word  following,  the  brackets.] 

When  both  brackets  and  parentheses  are  employed,  the 
brackets  enclose  the  parentheses :  [( — )]. 

Parentheses,  brackets  and  dashes  do  not  affect  the  ordin- 
ary punctuation  of  the  sentence ;  i.  e.,  the  points 
which  would  be  required  in  the  rest  of  the  sentence 
if  the  parentheses,  brackets,  or  dashes,  were  omitted, 
are  still  used. 

A  punctuation  mark  may  be  used  before,  but  not  after,  a 
dash. 

Mark  with  an  interrogation  point  a  question  expressed 
in  the  form  of  an  assertion  :  e.g. :  "  I  suppose,  Sir, 
you  are  his  physician  ?" 

The  plurals  of  two,  three,  &c.,  are  written  without  the 
apostrophe :  twos,  threes,  &c.  [Written  as  figures, 
these  words  will  have  the  apostrophe :  2*s,  3*3,  &c.] 

A  hyphen  is  used  between  two  substantives  expressing 
a  compound  idea,  when  the  second  substantive  has 
lost  or  changed  its  accent.  Thus :  ship-builder, 
iron-worker;  but  master  builder,  lord  chancellor.  The 
omission  of  the  hyphen  may  cause  confusion  when 
the  compound  expression  is  qualified  by  an  adjec- 
tive or  an  adjectival  phrase.  E.g.:  "A  large  mill 
owner,"  may  be  taken  to  mean,  the  owner  of  a  large 
mill,  instead  of,  an  extensive  owner  of  mills,  some  of 
which  may  be  small.  If  the  former  sense  is  in- 
tended, say,  "  An  owner  of  a  large  mill  \pr,  of  large 
mills]."  If  the  latter,  say.  "An  extensive  [or.  im~ 


92  NOTES   ON   PUNCTUATION. 

portant]  owner  of  mills  ;"  or  else  use  a  hyphen :  "  A 
large  mill-owner.1' 

A  hyphen  is  used  between  an  adjective  and  its  noun 
when  the  two,  taken  together,  form  a  compound 
adjective.  E.g.:  "High-church  principles."  [A 
similar  remark  may  be  made  of  adjectives,  one 
qualifying  the  other,  as :  a  red-hot  poker;  also  of 
an  adjective  (or  an  adverb)  qualifying  a  participle 
used  as  an  adjective,  when  the  compound  expres- 
sion precedes  the  noun,  as :  a  slow-sailing  vessel. 
When  it  follows  the  noun,  the  hyphen  is  not  re- 
quired ;  as  in :  "  A  vessel  slow  (or,  slowly)  sailing 
o'er  the  sea."  In  the  latter  case,  the  participle  can- 
not be  said  to  be  used  as  an  adjective.] 

In  writing,  it  is  better  to  divide  syllables  according  to 
sound  than  according  to  derivation.  E.g.  :  Epiph- 
any, pref-ace. 

When  a  quotation  contains  several  paragraphs,  inverted 
commas  should  be  used  at  the  beginning  of  each 
paragraph,  but  the  apostrophes  should  be  omitted 
after  all  the  paragraphs  except  the  last  one.  The 
same  rule  will  apply  to  several  stanzas  of  poetry  in 
one  quotation.  When  the  poetical  quotation  con- 
sists of  verses  not  separated  into  stanzas,  some 
writers  use  inverted  commas  before  each  line.  This 
is  unnecessary :  inverted  commas  before  the  first 
line,  and  apostrophes  after  the  last,  being  sufficient. 

Do  not  write  the  plural  of  proper  names  with  an  apos 
trophe.    Write :  "  I  have  seen  the  Smiths "  [not, 
Smith's}.    "  I  know  the  three  Marys  "  [not,  Mary's\ 


INDEX. 


PAOB. 

Apparent    

Anticipate 

All  of  them 

Analyse 

Ale 

Accord    

Accident 

Aggravate • 2 

Alternation     2 

Alternative 2 

Antiquarian    2 

Abortive •  •     2 

Adopted 2 

Antecedents    2 

Appreciate •     2 

At  auction 3 

Accompanied  by 3 

Anniversary    3 

Affable    3 

Alike 3 

Afraid.. 3 

Admit 3 

Allude    3 

Around  ••     3 

Avoided 4 

All  over • .  •  •     4 

Above 4 

At  best,  at  most,  at  least 4 

Auxiliary  verbs  alone • .     7 

Advisable  8 

Anxiety  of  mind 10 

Ascend  up *3 

Among  the  others,  the  rest  ....  22 

Apposition • 34 

Any     34 

Auxiliary  verb  omitted 34 

Adverb  with  compound  auxili- 
ary verb 34 

Although,  with  the  subjunctive 

mood 36 

As  follows 37 

Awkward  constructions. ...  38,  48 

Adjective  for  adverb 39 

Article  with  appositive  nouns  . .  40 


PAG*. 

Article  with  titles,  names     ....  40 
Article   (definite),  repetition  of 

40,  41 

Article    {indefinite)     after      no 
greater 42 


Adjectives  and  adverbs  after  in- 
transitive verbs 46 

Antecedent  to  relative  pronoun, 

repeated 52 

Advantage 55 

Also    55 

Ability    56 

Answer  56 

Amid,  amidst     56 

Among    56 

Abandon     56 

Assist  . 56 

Aid 56 

Anger 57 

Accurate 57 

Authentic «....   57 

Admittance 57 

Admission 57 

Allow 57 

Appear   58 

Aware 59 

Accidental ...  60 

Acknowledge..,. 61 

Address 63 

And  so  forth 64 

Almost    70 

Announce  72 

Alleviate 74 

Abjure    74 

Approve 80 

Agriculturist 80 

Aside 80 

Alone 80 

Arise   80 

Advance 80 

Acquaintanceship 80 

A  day  or  two,  a  man  or  two   . .  84 

Authoress 84 

Anyhow  ....................   84 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 

Anyway 84 

Accountable   ....*.. 85 

Answerable    85 

Antagonize 85 

Aborigene 85 

Both  of  them I 

Both 4 

Balance 4 

Benefited 4 

Beat     4 

Bound 4 

By  5 

By  the  bye 5 

By-law    5 

Banister 5 

Bad  cold,  bad  wound    5 

Badly 5 

Beg    5 

Between 5 

Bad  orthography,  orthoepy,  cali- 

graphy    . ., 15 

Bona  fide ..  28 

Been  to 29 

Brevity 50 

Benefit    55 

Bountiful    58 

Bravery 58 

Beneficent,  beneficence    58 

Benevolent,  benevolence 58 

Brevity,  brief 59 

Blameless   65 

But 65 

Begin 80 

Become 80 

Believe    80 

Body 80 

Buy 80 

Backward    81 

Bit,  a  ;  not  a  bit    85 

Brackets,  use  of 90,  91 

Collect    6 

Commence 6 

Condone 6 

Climax    6 

Constantly 6 

Celebrity    6 

Consequence 6 

Capricious 6 

Claim 6 


PAGE. 

Call  upon 6 

Catch 6 

Consider.... 7 

Curious 7 

Caption 7 

Citizen     7 

Circumstance 7 

Couple ^  7 

Calibre    ...    .* 7 

Contention 7 

Contradistinction 8 

Can  help 14 

Caligraphy 15 

Came  near 20 

Collective  nouns    3^ 

Conditional  clause,  place  of. ...  48 

Connective  sentence 54 

Capacity. 56 

Courage 58 

Concise,  conciseness 59 

Continuous 59,  72 

Continual 59,  72 

Character 59 

Conscious 59 

Crime 59 

Courteous 60 

Catalogue   60 

Casual 60 

Compel,  compulsion 60 

Coerce,  coercion    60 

Confess 61 

Conjecture 61 

Con-,  co-    .  f 6 1 

Complete    61 

Custom   6 1 

Cost,  costly    64 

Consequence 64 

Concealed  T ,  t>6 

Cheap 68 

Completely 70 

Converse    73 

Contented 75 

Coffin 80 

Cannot  but 80 

Come  into  collision   8 1 

Correct    81 

Converser,  conversationist    ....  81 

Controverter,  controversionist . .  81 

Church    8l 

Contend  against     8 1 

Corpulent   81 


INDEX. 


95 


PAOR. 

Confirmed  invalid ...........  85 

Cablegram 85 

Comma,  use  of 88,  89 

Colon,  use  of 90 

Cardinal  numbers,  plurals  of  ..  91 

Dilemma    7 

Distinction 8 

Desirable    8 

Demean 8 

Description     8 

Detect 8 

Dangerous 8 

Deprecate 8 

Denuded     8 

Die  with 8 

Directly 9 

Donate    9 

Dirt  road    9 

Divine.... 9 

Depreciate 9 

Differ  with 9 

Distance 9 

Differentiate  9 

Disdain   27 

Dare    36 

Do 37 

Double  meanings,  words  with . .  47 

Doubtful  parts  of  speech 47 

Different  expressions  for  same 

thing     53,  54 

Descriptive  writing   54 

Desert., 56 

Discriminate 62 

Distinguish 62 

Despotism 62 

Determine 62 

Directed 62 

Deduction 62 

Direct 63 

Drive 63 

Diligent,  diligence     67 

Delusion 67 

Dumb 7° 

Due 7i 

Deadly    81 

Dwell.... 8l 

Diverse    83 

Down  East,  down  South 85 

Desirability    85 

Direful     85 


PAGR. 

Defalcate,  defalcation  85 

Desiderate 85 

Deceased     85 

Dash,  use  of 91 

Essay    6 

Expect     9 

Ever  so  many    10 

Equally  as  well  as 10 

Equanimity  of  mind 10 

Every jO 

Executed    10 

Enact 10 

Endorse 10 

Embrace 10 

Empty     10 

Experiment,  try  an    1 1 

Every  hand     1 1 

Either.. n 

Else ii 

Exemplary 1 1 

Experience 1 1 

Excessively 1 1 

Effluviums,  efflu viae 1 1 

Each    23 

Every 23 

Emphatic  words,  place  of    ....  49 

Emphasis    49 

Exact 57 

Evidence     . .    63 

Epidemic    63 

Endemic 63 

Expense,  expensive 64 

Effect 64 

Eternal    64 

Everlasting     64 

Ktc 64 

Error 70 

Entirely 70 

Enough 76 

Entire 78 

Earth 79 

Exponental     8 1 

Earthen 81 

Enlarge  on,  upon 8l 

Every  once  iii  a  while  .......   85 

Electropathy 85 

Effectuate   85 

Enjoy  oneself 85 

Eventuate , 85 

Environment 86 


96 


INDEX. 


Emasculate. 


PAGK. 
,.  86 


Few,  a  few. II 

Fault,  at  ;  in 12 

Faithfully  promise     12 

Future     12 

Fetch 12 

Forbid 12,  81 

Ful  [adjectives  ending  in]     ....  12 

Female   13 

Fall  down 13 

Fix 13 

Fly. 13 

Foreign  adjectives 13 

First  person  preferred  to  third. .  47 

Force  in  construction  . .  48,  49,  50 

Figures  of  speech 53 

Forsake 56 

Fortuitous 60 

Finished 6 1 

Ferment 64 

Foment 64 

Faultless 65 

Falsehood 65 

Falsity    65 

Further 65 

Farther   65 

Fleeting 77 

Foregoing  81 

Factory     81 

Forward 8l 


Good  bye    5 

Graphic 13 

Going  to 13 

Grow   13 

Grow  small    13 

Get  to 13 

Gubernatorial     13 

Gratuitous 13 

Gerundial  infinitive 32 

Gerundial  noun 42 

Genuine 57 

Guided    62 

Goodness    65 

Globe 79 

Golden    81 

Graceful 81 

Goahead    86 

Got 86 


FAOR. 
Humanitarian    ...,.,.. 14 

I  lardly      14 

Help-meet 14 

High  calibre 14 

Have 14 

Higher  stage  of  perfection    ....   15 
Highest   17 

I 1  ereabouts 28 

Habit 61 

However    65 

Hidden 66 

Haste 66 

Hurry 66 

Hindrance 66 

Hardly    70 

Humor 79 

Heavy 81 

Hebrew 81 

House 81 

Hydropathy    85 

Help     14,  86 

Hyphen,  use  of 91,  92 


'5, 


Invest 

Idea    ...................... 

Incorrect  orthography,  orthoepy, 
caligraphy  ................ 

Individual  ....  .............. 

Infallible     .................. 

Inaugurate  .................. 

Implicit  .................... 

Item    ...................... 

In  six  months,  a  year   ........ 

Illy  .......  ................ 

Identified  with  ..........  .... 

Interested  in  ................ 

In  so  far  as  ................. 

Infinitive  mood  used  absolutely. 
If,  with  the  subjunctive  mood.. 
I,  your  brother,  who  begs    .... 

Infinitive  with  to    ........... 

It,  antecedent  of   ............ 

It,  prospective  use  of    ........ 

Imperative  mood  ............ 

Infinitive  expressing  a  purpose  . 
Introductory  expressions  ...... 

Induction    .................. 

In  spite  of  .................. 

Impediment   ................ 

Informed  ................. 


16 
'5 
'5 

15 
15 
15 
16 
16 
16 
16 
16 
16 
17 
17 


47 
So 
5' 

If 
II 

66 


INDEX. 


97 


PACE 

Instructed 66 

Indecent 67 

Immodest   67 

Instant    67 

Industrious,  industry     67 

Import    67 

Illusion   67 

In- [prefix] 68 

Inexorable 68 

Inflexible    68 

Idle 69 

Intent,  intention    72 

Indigence    72 

Immodest,  immodesty 78 

Incorrect     82 

Iced-water,  iced-cream 82 

Inform     82 

Ignore 86 

Impute    86 

Interrogation  mark,  use  of  ....  91 

Just  going  to 13 
ournal    17 

Jewelry   17 

Join  issue 66 

Jar  63 

Jug 68 

Knight  Templar 17 

Kinsman,  kinswoman 82 

Lowest    17 

Left  it  alone 17 

Lit  17 

Leave 18 

Lay 18 

Limited ••   1$ 

Loan 1 8 

Loud   18 

Length,  at 18 

Like    38 

Lesser 46 

Likewise 55 

List 60 

Low-priced 68 

Lazy    69 

Laudable 69 

Lost 69 

Latest 69 

Leave 69 

Language    77 


PAG*. 

Loquacious . 78 

Live     81 

Last  two  weeks,  last  six  iDonths  82 

Lenity 82 

Loose 82 

Land    82 

Leading  article,  leader    82 

Lengthwise • . . . .  82 

Lose  oneself 86 

Line  of  goods . . .  86 

Lots     86 

Less  guilty,  least  guilty    86 

Myself 18 

Masses     , 19 

More  of 19 

Mistaken     19 

Miasma  19 

Make „.    19 

Multitude,  nouns  of 35 

Mathematics 35 

Metaphysics    35 

Minimizing  expressions    49 

Monotonous  final  emphasis  ....  50 

Metaphors 50 

M  istake  of  subject 53 

Moment 67 

Meaning 67 

Malice 69 

Marital 70 

Matrimonial 70 

Mistake 70 

Mute 70 

Merely 70 

Meed   73 

Mitigate 74 

Morrow,  the 82 

Months,  the 02 

Much 82 

Muscular 82 

Malaprop    86 

More  guilty,  most  guilly 86 

Neither  n 

No  good,  no  use 14 

Novitiate    19 

Name i<) 

No  one   19 

No— or , 19 

Not  as 20 

No-  -no— are 20 


98 


INDEX. 


PAOB. 

Nasty 20 

Never  remember    20 

Next  Sunday 20 

Never 20 

Not  think    20 

Nothing  like  so 20 

Near 20 

New  beginners 21 

Nobody's  else    33 

Not— or  33,  34 

None  34 

Need 36 

Not  only — but  also    38 

New  construction 54 

Notwithstanding    65 

Nevertheless 65 

Nearly 70 

Neglectful  71 

Negligent    71 

Necessitate 86 

One  of  the  greatest,  if  not  the 

greatest    14 

Orthography 15 

Orthoepy     15 

On  the  street 21 

Old  news    21 

One,  one's,  ones 21,  22 

Over  and  above 21 

Over  his  signature 21 

Observe 21 

Ovation 21 

Oiherthan 21 

Old  veterans 21 

Omission  of  present  participle. .  50 
One  and  only  one  subject    of 

thought    54 

Object  place  of 49 

Obstacle 66 

Owing 71 

On    71 

Obstinate    76 

Origin 77 

Oppose    81 

One  to  another 82 

Oneself   83 

Oversee   83 

Offensive     83 

Ordinal  numbers    83 

Opine 86 

Out  West    86 


Out  of. 


PAOH. 

..  86 


Paralyse , i 

Proposition 22 

Pocket-hand-kerchief    22 

Pretend   22 

Preposterous 22 

Previous 22 

Partially 22 

People 23 

Plural  forms  .  • 23 

Privilege 23 

Present  participle 23,  50 

Plastic 23 

Pell-mell 24 

Providing    24 

Presume 24 

Period 24 

Persuaded , . .  24 

Partake  24 

Per 24 

Past  tense  24 

Point  of  view 27 

Prefer  to  walk  to  ride 29 

Position  of  adverbs,  prepositions, 

conjunctions   32 

Position  of  of,  both,  even  33 

Possessive  case 34 

Physics    35 

Participle  used  absolutely    ....  36 
Preposition,     sentence     ending 

with 47,  50 

Particular  terms  for  general ....  48 

Participial  phrase,  place  of  ....  48 

Pronouns  at  end  of  proposition.  50 

Participial  constructions 51 

Pronouns,  agreement  of,  in  meta- 
phorical language 53 

Permit 57 

Plentiful 58 

Polite 60 

Polished 60 

Pitcher    68 

Praiseworthy 69 

Perspicacity,  perspicacious  ....  71 

Perspicuous,  perspicuity 71 

Perpetually,  perpetual 72 

Proclaim 72 

Purpose 72 

Poverty 72 

Pauperism , 72 


INDEX. 


PAGS. 

Piety , 74 

Powerful 7° 

Poetess    84 

Ponder  over    87 

Practitioner    87 

Presidential    87 

Proven    87 

Particle,  a  ;  not  a  particle    ....  87 

Period,  use  of    90 

Parentheses,  use  of   91 

Proper  names,  plurals  of 92 

Quite  24 

Quarter  to  ten    28 

Question,  for  emphasis 50 

Quit     69 

Quotation  marks,  use  of 92 

Refer  3 

Riseup   13 

Reflexive  pronouns    1 8 

Replace 25 

Right 25 

Rarely 25 

Recommend    25 

Rendition    2$ 

Reverend    25 

Road  takes 25 

Remit 25 

Repetition  of  subject 39,  50 

Relative  pronoun,  43,  44,  45,  46,  52 

Repetition  of  preposition 51 

Repetition  of  sign  of  the  infini- 
tive   $1 

Repetition  of  subordinate  con- 
junctions   5 l 

Relative  clause 52 

Repetition  of  meaning 54 

Reply  . . 56 

Reputation 59 

Resolve  62 

Ride    63 

Result 64 

Reticence,  reticent 73 

Reserve,  reserved 73 

Reverse 73 

Recompense 73 

Reward 73 

Robbery 74 

Remember 74 

Recollect     74 


PAOR. 

Religion 74 

Relieve    74 

Recant     74 

Kcnd    74 

Rich     83 

Railway 83 

Rostrum 87 

Rehabilitate    87 

Recuperate 87 

Right  o(T 87 

Right  away    87 

Reliable 87 

Repudiate 87 

Sugar i 

Sink  down 13 

Subsequent 22 

Scarce 25 

Species    25 

Shall  have  the  pleasure    25 

Seldom  or  ever 26 

Spare 26 

Sensation    26 

Since   26 

So  much  so    26 

Summons    26 

Such  another 26 

Superior 26 

Supposititious    .....    26 

Settle 26 

Such    26 

Storms    26 

Splendid 27 

Summer's  morning    27 

Strata 27 

Stand-point    27 

Sincere    27 

Scorn 27 

Small 28 

Statu  quo 28 

Statics. 35 

Subjunctive  mood  30,  36 

Some 37 

Subject  pronoun  repeated     ....   39 

Shall  and  will 42,  43 

Sentence,  end  of 47 

Suspense 48 

Subject,  place  of   49 

Short,  "chippy "  endings    ...     50 

Synonyms 54 

Seem 58 


100 


INDEX. 


PAGE. 


Sin  .... 

Surmise 
Still. 


*? 


Secret  ......................  66 

Sense  .......  •  ..............  67 

Slothful  .*  ..................  69 

Spite   ......................  69 

Simply    ...............  .....  70 

Scarcely  ....................  70 

Sewerage    ..................  75 

Sewage    .............  .  ......  75 

Spontaneous  ................  75 

Sociable  ....................  75 

Social  ......................  75 

Satisfied  ....................  75 

Sufficient     ..................  76 

Strong  ......................  76 

Stubborn    ..................  76 

Safety  ......................  76 

Security  ....................  76 

Subdue    ....................  77 

Subjugate   ..................  77 

Source  ......................  77 

Sidewise  .............  '.  ......  82 

Seeming  .....................  83 

Self-same    ..................  83 

Say  .........................  83 

Station    ....................  83 

Sympathy  ....  ..............  83 

Should  rather     ..............  84 

Short  words  and  phrases  ......  84 

Spread    .....  .  ..............  87 

Suicide    ....................  87 

Scientist  ....................  87 

Stump  .....................  87 

Seeming  paradox  ............  87 

Semi-colon,  use  of    ..........  89 

Syllabication  .............  ...  92 

Tea  ......................  I,  29 

Than   ......................     4 

Take  some  meat,  dinner  ......  28 

Taxes  ......................   28 

Though   ....................  28 

Thereabouts    ................   28 

That  far,  much,  many  ........   28 

The  more    .................   29 

This  seven  years    ............   35 

That  [relative]  .......  44,  45,  46 

Than  whom    ...............   44 

This  sort,  kind,  way,  manner  .  .   47 


There  is,  arc,  will  be    48 

Twice,  making  statement 54 

Technical  terms. 55 

Tyranny 62 

Testimony 63 

Taught    66 

Take  issue 66 

Theft  74 

Tear 74 

Tongue    77 

Transient    77 

Transitory 77 

Trivial 77 

Trifling   77 

Talkative    78 

Totally    79 

Toward   . .  81 

Truthfulness 83 

Tangental    ...    83 

Thus 83 

Tiresome    87 

That  much,  that  little 88 

Unanimity  of  mind    10 

Underhanded 29 

Utter 29 

Ultimate 29 

Unemphatic  word  at  end  of  pro- 
position  49 

Usage 61 

Un- [prefix]    68 

Upon 71 

Unexpressed 83 

Unaccountable 85 

Unanswerable    85 

Undesirability    85 

Unreliable . . ,  87 

UpNorth 88 

Valuable 29 

Very    30 

Vicinity 30 

Verb,  number  of   41 

Verbal  clauses    53 

Valor 58 

Vice    .  59 

Virtue 65 

Voluntary    75,  78 

Vulgar,  vulgarity 78 

Variance,  at    8 1 

Violoncello 83 


1NDE3. 


101 


PAG*. 

Various 83 

Vacant     83 

Voice 88 

Whether II,  30 

Wrong  orthography,   orthoepy, 

caligraphy  15 

Winter's  morning 27 

Whereabouts 28 

Whomsoever 3° 

Where— to 31 

Witness 31 

What  for 31 

Widow  woman 31 

We  ..' 31 

Whether  or  no  . .  * 31 

Whole  ot    3' 

Winsome    32 

Worse 32 

Want S2 


PACK. 

Whether— or 39 

Will  and  shall 42,  43 

Who,  which,  that    ....  44,  45,  46 

Word  for  phrase    50 

Wrath 57 

Willing   78 

Whole 78 

Wit 79 

World 79 

Wholly    79 

Wast    84 

Would  rather 84 

With  reference  to 84 

Yesterday's  Times     32 

Yours  &c 32,  88 

You 38 

Yet 65 


Zeugma 


53 


D,   APPLETON  &   CO;'S  PUBLICATIONS. 

ERRORS  IN  THE  USE  OF  ENGLISH.  By  the  late  WILLIAM 
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44  This  posthumous  work  of  Dr.  Hodgson  deserves  a  hearty  welcome,  for  it  is 
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41 1  know  it  well,  and  have  read  it  with  great  admiration."— RICHARD  GRANT 
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44  Cobbett's  Grammar  is  probably  the  most  readable  grammar  ever  written. 
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THE  ORTIIOEPIST  :  A  Pronouncing  Manual,  containing  about 
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,  .„.  ,,.ie  Tnost  part,  of  rare 

i  Literary  ~~ 

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44  This  is  the  best  kind  of  an  English  grammar.  It  teaches  the  rteht  use  of 
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IN  THE  BRUSH;  OR,  OLD-TIME  SOCIAL  AND  POLITICAL 
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HISTORY  OF  THE  OPINIONS   ON  THE   SCRIPTURAL 
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THE  GEOGRAPHIC AI,  AND  GEOLOGICAL  DISTRI- 
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the  vine  having  more  than  one  hundred  foes  of  this  kind.  Fungi  of  a  microscopic 
size,  they  have  their  uses  in  nature,  since  they  clear  the  surface  of  the  earth  Iroin 
dead  bodies  and  fecal  matter,  from  all  dead  and  useless  substances  which  are  the 
refuse  of  life,  and  return  to  the  soil  the  voluble  mineral  substances  from  which 
plants  are  derived.  All  fermented  liquors,  wine,  beer,  vinegar,  etc.,  are  artificially 
produced  by  the  species  of  microbes  called  ferments;  they  also  cause  bread  to 
rise.  Others  are  injurious  to  us,  for  in  the  shape  of  spores  and  seeds  they  enter 
our  bodies  with  air  and  water  and  cause  a  large  number  of  the  diseases  to  whi<  h 
the  flash  is  heir.  Many  physicians  do  not  accept  the  microbian  theory,  consider- 
ing that  when  microbes  are  found  in  the  blood  they  are  neither  the  cause  of  the 
disease,  nor  the  contagious  element,  nor  the  vehicle  of  contagion.  In  France  the 
opponents  of  the  micronian  theory  are  Robin,  Bechamp,  and  Jousset  de  Bellesme ; 
in  England,  Lewis  and  Lionel  Beale.  The  writer  comes  to  the  conclusion  that 
Pasteur's  microMan  theory  is  the  only  one  that  explains  all  facts/' — A'ew  1'ork 
Times. 

EARTHQUAKES  AND  OTHER  EARTH  MOVEMENTS. 

By  JOHN  MILNE,  Professor  of  Mining  and  Geology  in  the  Imperial 
College  of  Engineering,  Tokio,  Japan.  With  38  Illustrations.  12mo. 
Cloth,  $1.75. 

"In  this  little  book  Professor  Milne  hae  endeavored  to  bring  together  all  that 
is  known  concerning  the  nature  and  causes  of  earthquake  movements.  His  task 
was  one  of  much  difficulty.  Professor  Milne's  excellent  work  in  the  science  of 
seismology  has  been  done  in  Japan,  in  a  rejrion  of  incessant  shocks  of  sufficient 
energy  to  make  observation  possible,  yet,  with  rare  exceptions,  of  no  disastrous 
effects.  He  hae  had  the  good  fortune  to  be  aided  by  Mr.  Thomas  Gray,  a  gentle- 
man of  great  constructive  skill,  as  well  as  by  Professors  J.  A.  Ewing,  W.  8.  Chap- 
lin, and  his  other  colleagues  in  the  scientific  colony  which  has  gathered  about  the 
Imperial  University  of  Japan.  To  these  eentlemeu  we  owe  the  best  of  our  sci- 
ence of  seismology,  for  before  their  achievements  we  had  nothing  of  value  con- 
cerning the  physical  conditions  of  earthquakes  except  the  great  works  of  Robert 
Mallet;  and  Mallet,  with  all  his  genius  and  devotion  to  the  subject,  had  but  few 
chances  to  observe  the  actual  shocks,  and  so  failed  to  understand  many  of  their 
important  features."—  The  Nation. 


New  York:  D.  APPLETON  &  CO.,  1,  3,  &  6  Bond  Street. 


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